Zurich or Aviva Pension

[united4ever]

Hi, my work pension provider has moved around over the last few years a lot.

Consequently, I have funds with Aviva, Mercer and the current one Zurich.

I have to keep the zurich account open since that is the current provider that my works pension gets paid into. I really would like to have it all in one pot so I can manage it easier. I was therefore planning on moving the Mercer and Aviva funds to the Zurich one for ease of management.

However, I did hear from some friends that Aviva have a really good reputation in the industry. Additionally, there is an IFA who was assigned to our Aviva account and was happy to talk over the phone about our funds and strategy. We don't have this facility with the Zurich fund so are left on our own (or to pay privately for an IFA).

I am tempted to keep open the Aviva fund and move the Mercer funds to Aviva and maybe periodically move some funds from Zurich to Aviva. This would enable me to still use the IFA and also take advantage of Aviva being pretty good and hopefully outperforming the Zurich pension pot.

The downside is that I would have 2 pensions to 'manage'.

Do you think the advantages of Aviva are valid here? Or should I just put it all into Zurich?

"manage" means very little for a pension as the fund managers do all the work. I would compare the charges for each provider before moving anything. Small percentages add up over the long term and for large amount so simply go with the best deal - if that means sticking with 3 for the moment then do that. If charges are equal then look at what the investments are in and compare risk levels against your age and attitude to risk. Then consider shifting (again looking at costs) to bring your funds into line with your goals. IFAs might be nice to talk to but in the end they make their money from getting to move around rather than staying with a good deal - unless you pay by the hour. Good luck