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Pensions explained
Pension FAQs
What are the rules and the risks?
What are the rules and the risks?

Learn more about pension rules and what risks you need to take into account.

Ellie Lister avatar
Written by Ellie Lister
Updated over a week ago

Do I have to pay to have a pension? 

Most pension companies will charge an ‘annual management fee’, usually a percentage of the total amount in your pension pot. If your pension is invested well, this fee should be less than the amount your pension grows by, so even after paying your fees, you’d still have more in cash terms than you put in to your pension. Penfold charges an annual management fee of either 0.75% (for BlackRock’s funds), or 0.88% (for HSBC’s fund) for all of our customers.

Some pension companies will also charge you each time you contribute, or for setting up your pension or moving it to another provider. Many SIPP providers will also change a minimum fee each year, so if you don’t have enough saved in your pension you will lose much more than the annual management fee. Penfold won’t charge you for any of this.

What if I’ve got multiple pension pots?

This is a perfectly normal situation for someone who has been employed in the past. However, there are benefits to consolidating them, particularly from an administrative perspective. If they are all defined contribution pensions, with little or no exit fees, it might be a good idea to consolidate them into one place, so it is easy for you to keep track of them. You should consider other factors like the fees charged each year by the different pension providers.

Pensions & Investing

With Penfold, the money you pay into your pension is invested. Your savings are used to buy a mixture of shares (part ownership in a company) and bonds (a loan with a guaranteed fixed interest rate) that will hopefully help your pot grow over time.

As with any investment, this involves risk. The value of your pension can go up as well as down, and you could get back less than you put in. However, greater risk can lead to greater returns. If you have a long time before retirement, investing over the long-term can help ease any short-term losses.

Check out this guide to learn more about investing risk.

How Your Pension Is Kept Safe

Our platform is based on giving you pension peace of mind. We believe you should know your savings are being looked after, no matter what the future holds.

We at Penfold don’t hold or manage your money. Anything you pay into your pension with us first goes into a secure account held by a highly regulated custodian bank. It’s held here for usually just 1 business day before being used to buy into your investment plan, managed by some of the world’s largest money managers.

Here’s the important thing to remember: Your savings are your savings. All of your pension is kept separate from us and belongs entirely to you. This means if anything were to happen to Penfold, your money can’t be touched by us or any of our partners. Your pot will be transferred to another pension provider, ready for your retirement.

How Penfold Is Regulated

Penfold is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), number 826097.

This means that by law, we have to abide by all the rules set out by the FCA. These guidelines help keep your pension secure. Read more about the Financial Conduct Authority.

How Your Pension Is Protected

Penfold is also a part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

In the very unlikely event that something were to happen to Penfold or our partners (BlackRock and Lloyds bank), the value of your pension is protected up to a maximum of £85,000 per individual.

Protecting Your Privacy

As a digital pension provider, we understand that many people want to know how their personal information is kept safe.

To safeguard your data, we use the latest security technology and maintain strict internal practices every step of the way.

We also comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines. We'll never share your information with anyone else without asking you first.

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