Pension investors risk overpaying tens of thousands of pounds in fees as “shameful” industry practices make it hard for customers to identify and compare charges.
[...] Opaque and complex fee structures make it extremely difficult for investors to work out what they might pay, or to compare different providers.
[...] Holly Mackay, founder of Boring Money, an independent investment website for consumers, and a finance professional with 20 years’ investment experience, took it for herself to calculate the real costs and value of pensions investment. It took her weeks to complete due to the “mind-bending” array of charges.
[...]
Her conclusion is that ordinary pension investors will have a “near impossible” task to compare all the options open to them for investing their retirement cash.
[...]
Mackay also noticed slight differences between Do-It-Yourself investors (DIY) and advised pension holders in terms of working out charges, noting as well, few exceptions where pension charges platforms were actually much clearer than the average of other companies.
She adds: “It is shameful and inexcusable that the industry still makes it so hard for customers to identify and compare charges.”
Original articles here & here (Financial Times) | February 28 2020 | by Holly Mackay & Josephine Cumbo