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Independent, no-nonsense ratings and reviews
This is an OK option for investors or pensions savers who don’t want too much detail, minimum fuss and a big solid brand behind the scenes. If you have insurance with Aviva, you can see this on one convenient dashboard with any ISAs and pensions. One of the better big traditional players for pensions. Probably best for those who don’t want to do anything fancy.
We score each provider on about 20 different criteria including cost, service, website, functionality, customer feedback and our experience of the service. All overseen by our PhD gonk!
Beginner Investor
Big, trusted company
Simple pre-packaged options
Bland but safe
Don’t want to take our word for it? We ask existing customers and investors to rate their experience with the company – based on value for money, overall service and the website. We need at least 20 customer reviews before we add anyone to our Best Buys list.
Based on 46 reviews
Transferred 2 policies in from Sunlife/Axa/Friends Provident. Unable to see larger policy online. Very restricted and poorly performing choice of funds linked to these policies. I will be transferring out
07/02/2021
Service by phone is always good. Website and App need bringing into the 21st century The Reviewer is Pre-retirement age.
05/02/2021
17/11/2020
I can now manage it myself and it works fine. The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
14/11/2020
Not overly impressed. After a few month changed the amount of monthly drawdown and it was not done correctly. Secondly every month receive the same letter stating amount payable to financial advisor also receive the same notification online. This is a waste of postage and paper. The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
13/11/2020
Meets all my needs,payments monthly always on time .Website updated daily with account funds. The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
13/11/2020
Their website works extremely well The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
13/11/2020
Their customer service is good - if you have an issue you can usually get through to someone pretty quickly on the 'phone. I work in the sector so have experience of both setting drawdown up for clients and having a drawdown pension myself Aviva are pretty efficient and it's reasonably streamlined from beginning to end Prudential are a complete nightmare to deal with in trying to liberate money! The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
13/11/2020
Timely response to telephone calls and questions posed and resolving issues. App not as intuitive ad it could be - bit heavy but workable/functional. Reasonable priced - overheads/fees.
23/10/2020
What a nightmare. I have 3 Aviva policies, 2 of which were transferred in from FriendsLife. I had to open a new Aviva policy for a new pension transfer, and this has been a complete nightmare. The IT systems prevent you from seeing where the funds are invested, and being able to change funds. It is impossible to interact with Aviva, their IT systems and customer service departments just don't tie in together, so after 3 months of trying to get access to my policies and being able to manage the investments, I have just given up. I'm transferring them all out now as it's the only solution.
22/10/2020
Clear explanations, without overwhelming jargon. The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
17/10/2020
Great clarity for SIPP Plus insurance on same portal. Good customer service for unexpected insurance clIM The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.
16/10/2020
Very easy to use app. Large choice of funds. Reasonable charges, clearly presented.
16/10/2020
Simple straightforward and easy to follow. The myaviva app is first class
16/10/2020
Overall, the Aviva pensions through the Membersite (I know they have other types I am not familiar with) works REALLY well. Very low cost, plenty (around 80) of funds to chose from, easy to get fact sheets to help guide any decisions. Not the fastest to respond to questions, but then so far as I can tell, many pension funds are not... & they do get there in the end. Overall, and compared with many friends who use other services/providers, I am impressed with Aviva.
16/09/2020
I've got an Aviva pension with my workplace. It's only possible to switch by filling in a form and sending by post. Have they not heard of the internet? It sounds like they still live in the 19th century. They sent me an outdated fund list so I just wasted my time by sending them the form. I have to start all over again. Maybe it's designed to keep your money in their underperforming funds.
02/03/2020
Trying to move a pension from Aviva was a nightmare. The valuation of the fund changed dramatically (I’m taking upwards of 25% difference) according to who I spoke to. And the whole process took forever. In the end they had to compensate me. I’d steer clear if I was you.
24/01/2020
I have tried to complain but got absolutely nowhere with trying to stop this company, that has my pension, from sending me exactly the same letters every month for the last few years. They say it's because it's part of their computer system and they can't change it! It's a terrible waste of paper, postage and administration - costs for all of these are presumably taken from the charges they make to administer my pension. I would not recommend this company to anyone.
18/10/2019
My financial advisor suggested I open one. More website usability
19/12/2018
Clarity and simplicity.
30/01/2018
I like the layout of the website, graphs and retirement calculators. I think the explanation of the spread of investments and risk could be done better.
30/01/2018
Big brand stability.
30/01/2018
More clarity on fees for long standing pension account. It's very hard to find fees and fund AMCs for pre-1990s pensions.
30/01/2018
The recent switch to FNZ has turned the lights off for client view and the lack of acknowledgement is speaking volumes.
30/01/2018
App is not user friendly.
26/09/2017
Simple formula, straightforward charges, community involvement, easy to track progress but non-specialist like me.
26/09/2017
Really simple to use.
04/07/2017
Could be cheaper, but customer service is good.
04/07/2017
Really easy to use.
04/07/2017
Low cost and trustworthy.
04/07/2017
I'm informed all the time, and discuss all my options.
04/07/2017
They are trustworthy, and have good reputation. There's always room for improvement. The website could be more informative.
04/07/2017
Fast service
04/07/2017
Website needs improvement as it's difficult to navigate.
04/07/2017
N/a
B
04/07/2017
Very easy to trade.
04/07/2017
I like the online service.
04/07/2017
Low cost.
04/07/2017
Good costumer service.
04/07/2017
I like the investment products they provide keep up the good work. They provide better customer service than other providers I have used.
04/07/2017
They provide tools and guidance to help me make investment decisions. Aviva are a market leader and I trust them.
04/07/2017
Good company to invest with their services are good, everything is in one place in their accounts.
04/07/2017
Good customer service but would be better if it was cheaper. I haven't used any other services apart from Aviva.
04/07/2017
Easy to navigate website although costs could be improved. Not as good as Hargreaves Lansdown.
04/07/2017
Cheap, straighforward and simple but almost impossible to speak to them by phone.
04/07/2017
Simple to use. I only use Aviva.
04/07/2017
The online experience is very traditional and works well enough. No complaints.
But then when the snail mail kicks in – OMG! The letters are substandard and alienating. We received five letters from Aviva after opening our test account. One of these was half complete and two of these had ‘Add Line 1’, ‘Add Line 2’ etc. in the address fields. The five letters could easily have been merged into one as they each contained a small piece of information about the new account.
Stocks and Shares ISA
Investment Account
Pension
Own brand funds
Funds from other groups
Robo advice / ready-made portfolios
Includes a shortlist of investments
Pick your own funds
Those in drawdown with Aviva were usually advised, with their adviser having set everything up on their behalf. However, once set up in drawdown most were complimentary about Aviva’s customer service and pretty neutral about their experience, using the word ‘fine’. Nothing special but fine.
A big household name, Aviva offers easy entry into the pension space with a £50 per month minimum. The website is nice and simple and offers a shortlist of 4 ‘ready-made’ multi-asset funds that spread your money around lots of different shares and investments. Ballpark costs for a pension with one of these funds (including fund charges) are 0.75%, which is £7.50 a year on £1,000.
For those that want to pick their own investments, there is a much wider range of funds available, but you can’t buy individual company shares.
Although the service and experience is relatively bland, there is some comfort in choosing a large, familiar brand. And it is fairly straightforward to park your money into a solution that is managed and maintained for you on an ongoing basis at a reasonable fee.
To boost your pension savings, you can make a one-off payment at any time.
Aviva administers the drawdown of its pensions and does not charge any additional fees for this.
Provider Size: | Large insurance and pension firm / huge global brand |
Minimum amounts: | £5000 minimum initial lump sum £50 minimum monthly amount |
"I saw an ad in the Evening Standard - 'In Charge Not Overcharged' - which prompted me to contact you to ask how I can see how my Aviva SIPP pension is performing against the competition. I'm 51. The fund value is £161K and it was opened a year ago. Appreciate any tips. Danny"
Danny, London
30/05/2019
Read our replyI saw an ad in the Evening Standard - 'In Charge Not Overcharged' - which prompted me to contact you to ask how I can see how my Aviva SIPP pension is performing against the competition. I'm 51. The fund value is £161K and it was opened a year ago. Appreciate any tips. Danny
Danny, London
30/05/2019
First, it's great to see that you spotted our Best Buy logo, on Interactive Investor's 'In Charge Not Overcharged' ad in the Evening Standard!
Welcome to our site!
Now this is a tricky question to answer, because I don't know exactly what's in your SIPP.
I did look at the charges for the Aviva Pension which you can buy directly online, and the charges start at 0.4% for administration and tier down.
That's that's pretty reasonable, and in line with the market average.
You ask about performance - it's hard to know because I don't know what funds they've actually invested in, or what investments are sitting inside your SIPP.
However, here are just a few things you can do, just to get a sense check of how it's doing:
When you're looking at performance, the thing you've got to work out, is what's the split between bonds and shares.
Have a look at a few other investments that have got a similar split, and just check you're not out of line. As long as things haven't fallen off a cliff over the last year, you should be fine. Aviva is a good, solid, reputable household name. It's unlikely that you're paying way above the odds.
As for performance, check out similar examples with a similar split, and just check your performance is around there or thereabouts.
If it's not, you've got some questions to be asking.
We are not regulated to give personal financial advice - This isn’t full-fat regulated financial advice. Boring Money is a publisher and not regulated by the FCA.
This means we can't help with specific personal circumstances or recommend specific investment products. It also basically means that if we say something daft, you have no recourse to come back and complain.
We’re only allowed to give you a steer or share an opinion or tell you the facts - That said, we promise that our answer to you is an independent unbiased perspective with no commercial gain to make. If you need regulated financial advice, you can find a good adviser via sites such as Unbiased & Vouchedfor.
"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?"
Sam, Norfolk
30/05/2019
Read our replyI'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?
Sam, Norfolk
30/05/2019
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
We are not regulated to give personal financial advice - This isn’t full-fat regulated financial advice. Boring Money is a publisher and not regulated by the FCA.
This means we can't help with specific personal circumstances or recommend specific investment products. It also basically means that if we say something daft, you have no recourse to come back and complain.
We’re only allowed to give you a steer or share an opinion or tell you the facts - That said, we promise that our answer to you is an independent unbiased perspective with no commercial gain to make. If you need regulated financial advice, you can find a good adviser via sites such as Unbiased & Vouchedfor.
"I have had a long and successful career, and intend to retire in autumn, aged 60. I have earned strong money, but being risk-averse, I have been content to let it mount up largely as cash, plus a pension (along with some smaller Stocks & Shares ISAs etc). I now find myself with £1 million in a low-cost Aviva pension, plus £2.5 million in cash. It is my hope to leave my pension untouched, and pass it over as part of inheritance tax planning. I have one son and a new grandson, who I would like to leave as comfortable as possible when I'm gone, so would like to balance my risk-adverse character with making my money work harder for us all. I have talked with several IFAs, but given my risk/return appetite, their fees seem to eat up most of the benefit they offer over my current position. I guess my question is, do IFAs normally bring sufficient benefit to low risk strategies, to make it worthwhile or am I better off cautiously investing myself, and saving the fees? Many thanks, Stephen"
Stephen, North Yorkshire
01/04/2019
Read our replyI have had a long and successful career, and intend to retire in autumn, aged 60. I have earned strong money, but being risk-averse, I have been content to let it mount up largely as cash, plus a pension (along with some smaller Stocks & Shares ISAs etc). I now find myself with £1 million in a low-cost Aviva pension, plus £2.5 million in cash. It is my hope to leave my pension untouched, and pass it over as part of inheritance tax planning. I have one son and a new grandson, who I would like to leave as comfortable as possible when I'm gone, so would like to balance my risk-adverse character with making my money work harder for us all. I have talked with several IFAs, but given my risk/return appetite, their fees seem to eat up most of the benefit they offer over my current position. I guess my question is, do IFAs normally bring sufficient benefit to low risk strategies, to make it worthwhile or am I better off cautiously investing myself, and saving the fees? Many thanks, Stephen
Stephen, North Yorkshire
01/04/2019
Hi Stephen,
Firstly, what a fantastic amount of money to have accumulated ready to support your retirement. Now is a great time to be considering your options.
You have asked a very worthwhile question. Managing your own finances when you go into retirement is a little tricky, as you need your money to last you potentially for 40 years. If you are determined to leave money to your family, you may also want to consider how you can shelter some of your savings from inheritance tax, and long-term care planning issues that may arise in the future.
Your attitude to risk should have no bearing on the value that an IFA can bring to the table.
However in my opinion, for you, it is important to differentiate between a financial adviser vs a financial planner.
A typical financial adviser who operates on a ‘assets under management’ model will charge you between 0.75-1% per annum.
It is important to ask them what they provide for the annual fee. If it is just managing the money invested, then I would have a conversation with financial PLANNERS. Financial planners will provide you with a financial forecast to help you to plan out scenarios and manage issues such as tax planning, inheritance tax and safe withdrawal rates. This will ensure that you never run out of money, whatever your tolerance to risk is.
The focus here is on planning and not just managing risk, investment strategies, and financial products.
In reality, the question you are asking here is "how can I protect my lifestyle, so that I can never run out of money, and I can leave a legacy to my family.”
Financial planning will help you to answer this. Some planners will allow you to work with them on a fixed fee arrangements, and it may well be that you ask them to create a financial plan first, and then decide if their ongoing service is of value to you.
With a pension fund at £1 million, you will need to consider Lifetime allowance limits, as your pot may grow in excess of the allowance, and also other inheritance tax planning strategies for the cash, depending on your spending plans and objectives.
I hope that helps.
Catherine
We are not regulated to give personal financial advice - This isn’t full-fat regulated financial advice. Boring Money is a publisher and not regulated by the FCA.
This means we can't help with specific personal circumstances or recommend specific investment products. It also basically means that if we say something daft, you have no recourse to come back and complain.
We’re only allowed to give you a steer or share an opinion or tell you the facts - That said, we promise that our answer to you is an independent unbiased perspective with no commercial gain to make. If you need regulated financial advice, you can find a good adviser via sites such as Unbiased & Vouchedfor.
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