Pension savers losing thousands due to drawdown schemes’ high investment charges

Pension savers are losing thousands of pounds from their pension pots as a result of high investment charges on drawdown schemes.

According to research carried out by Which?, and shared exclusively with The Times, savers paid £12,000 more than others over 15 years.

The Which? investigation found that someone who invested a £250,000 pension pot into a Standard Life Active Money Sipp would incur fees of £38,144 over 15 years. It was the most expensive of the none pension companies and 13 investment broker schemes examined.

However, if a saver has chosen a Sipp from online service Interactive Investor, they would have paid £26,043 - £12,101 less.

Which? has called for transparency and comparability of charges.

“People should be able to make an informed decision, but it is extremely hard to compare fees when they are presented inconsistently. The FCA must introduce a charge cap on default products to ensure that consumers don’t miss out on the savings they need for retirement," Which? author Paul Davies said.

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