By Richard Skerritt, Managing Director of Skerritts
We regularly come across people who have tens of thousands of pounds in technology funds that were invested in the late 90s or early 2000s, and have been left there ever since. Many people are stuck in With Profits funds that are paying zero or minimal returns. Research shows that literally billions of pounds is sitting in pension funds that are totally neglected. Maybe it is because of the fact that they are seen as only being important in the future, many pension funds receive very little or no attention.
When the pension funds were set up, they may have been well researched and funds chosen that were right at the time. However, not only do people’s needs and attitudes change over time, far more importantly where money should be invested changes very frequently.
We regularly come across people who have tens of thousands of pounds in technology funds that were invested in the
late 90s or early 2000s, and have been left there ever since. Many people are stuck in With Profits funds that are paying zero or minimal returns. Many pension providers are now closed to new business resulting in zombie funds that perhaps don’t receive the same investment efforts of funds that are looking to attract new business. Nowadays, it is easier than ever to move underperforming or unsuitable pension funds and the range of options is huge.
Technology advances means that pension investments can be actively managed to achieve greater returns from a far wider range of investment mediums and asset classes. Having well managed pension funds can make a massive difference to what you will get from your pension at retirement and perhaps can even mean that you can retire a bit earlier than you otherwise would have been able to.
