Pension management charges

Pension management charges explained

Pension management charges are commonplace and cover the administration costs of managing your pension. Most will also include investment charges, which are the costs associated with researching and selecting the various assets your pension savings are invested in.

Management charges need to be paid once a year and are either charged as a flat fee or a percentage of the value of your pension pot. Schemes are allowed to charge different amounts, and the more specialised your pension investment funds, the higher your pension fund charges will be.

Usually charges on pensions are lower than on other investment products such as ISAs, however it’s important to consider the long-term impact that pension management fees can have on your savings before selecting a pension.

Low fee pensions, or those that reduce as your savings increase, will enable you to keep more of your pension for retirement. Over time, large pension management charges can dramatically reduce your savings.

You can find out how much you’re being charged by checking your pension or speaking to your scheme administrator.
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Other pension charges

Management charges are always stated upfront by pension providers. However, additional and sometimes hidden charges may also apply.

Two of the most common pension charges are entry and exit fees, which have to be paid if you close down a pension and/ or open a new one. These fees can sometimes be referred to as pension transfer charges as they’re charged when you close an old pension and move your savings into a new pension scheme.

Other pension charges may include:

• an underlying fund fee, used to pay for the management of each fund in your portfolio.
• platform fees, if you use an online platform to manage your investments.
• inactivity fees, charged if you stop making contributions to your pension.

Watch our Pension 101 on the types of pension charges, below.

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Pension fund charges comparison

PensionBee charges a single annual management fee and it decreases the more you save.

You’ll pay between 0.5^{_personal_allowance_rate} and 0.^_rate, depending on the plan you choose, which we’ll automatically deduct from your pension pot. If your pot size is larger than ^{_high_income_child_benefit} we’ll halve the fee on the portion of your savings over this amount.

Find out more about PensionBee’s vision or sign up to PensionBee now.

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Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.

Last edited: 06-04-2025

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