Your Pension Could Be Losing Value to High Fees
Switch your pension to a smarter, more cost-effective solution without losing control of your money.
Switch your pension to a smarter, more cost-effective solution without losing control of your money.
Many people in or approaching drawdown are paying more in fees than they realise — often through a combination of advice charges, platform fees, and fund management costs. Providers like St. James’s Place typically use percentage-based charging structures, which can amount to 1.5–2% or more per year, depending on the underlying investments and services. Reviewing your pension setup could lead to significant long-term savings.
At first glance, it may seem small — but over 10 years, those charges can consume tens of thousands of pounds from your pension fund.
Many people remain with their existing pension provider as they approach or even after retirement, not realising that they could be paying significantly more in fees than necessary. While some providers charge between 1.5% and 2% annually, including advice, platform and fund management, these charges are often taken as a percentage of the fund, which means larger pensions incur higher fees, regardless of complexity.
At Pense, we operate a fixed-fee advice model. That means you’ll pay the same flat fee whether your pension fund is £200,000 or £500,000 — ensuring fairness and transparency. Our clients typically see a significant reduction in ongoing charges, which keeps more of their pension invested and working for them.
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John was approaching retirement with a pension valued at £254,926.66, held within a leading advice practice in their Retirement Account. After reviewing his existing arrangements, we found that he was being charged a total of 1.74% per year, comprising advice fees, platform charges and fund costs.
Compared to staying with his existing provider, this switch could save John more than £24,000 in fees over the next 10 years - and that's assuming no fund growth. The savings would be even more substantial if his fund grows over time, due to the compounding effect of lower annual charges.
He would also retain full flexibility to withdraw income as needed, pass on unused funds tax-efficiently, and access the full range of investment and retirement income options available in the open market — rather than being limited to the current provider’s in-house solutions.
“I had no idea how much I was overpaying in fees and no one ever explained the alternatives. Pense took the time to show me what I was really being charged and helped me switch to something better. I now keep more of my money for retirement"
Want to know if you're overpaying for your pension? With just a few clicks, we can help you find out — and show you exactly how much you could save. Whether you're already in drawdown or approaching retirement, our free cost analysis takes the guesswork out of pension charges. Here’s how it works: