I want to start a new pension - Which provider would you recommend?

10 July 2019

Question by Sam

I'm a 48 year old with minimal pensions. I would like to start a new pension to save for the next 12 years. I've already set up a Stocks & Shares ISA with Nutmeg, so would like to start my pension with another provider. I know little about investments so would like to use a company that has ready made funds based on risk assessment. Which would you recommend?


Answered by Holly Mackay

My first question is why you want to look to set up a pension elsewhere.

There are benefits in having your ISA and pension managed in the same place.

Ring Fencing
Nutmeg and most other investment providers will ring fence client money from their account.

So if anything goes wrong, your money is held by what we call a custodian. They are also covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers you for up to £85,000 we hold with any one provider, if they get into troubles. So do have a look at that.

If you still want to look elsewhere, not so many of the robo advisers have pensions. You could, if you're worried about security, look to stick with a household name such as Aviva, who will let you buy a DIY pension online from them.

Robo advisers
Other options would be to use more of what we call an investment supermarket. Hargreaves Lansdown is the country's biggest. It's a FTSE 100 firm, if you're worried about security. So that might be a good place to look. They can be expensive for much larger accounts, but if you're getting started with the pension and their service is good, then the fees won't be relatively out of line with with the market.

Ready meals
Other places you could look to start a DIY pension, would be AJ Bell Youinvest. Unlike with Nutmeg and Aviva, both of whom offer ready-made pension investment packages, with Hargreaves and AJ Bell Youinvest you will have to pick the investments you actually put into your pension.

If you want the investment equivalent of a ready meal, then have a look at what we call multi asset funds to put inside your pension. Vanguard's Lifestrategy range or BlackRock's Consensus range are two such options.

Result:
On balance, if you've got a relatively small amount in your ISAs and are starting off with a pension, I think it sounds like it may make sense just to stick with the provider you're with and the service that you know.

Hope this helps,

Holly

Answered by

Holly Mackay

Founder and CEO of Boring Money

I’ve worked in investment markets for over 20 years. I started out at Merrill Lynch Investment Management and worked at a few big names before setting up my first business in 2008.