How can I check my pension performance?

[Yesterdayyesterday]

I worry about my pension a bit. It is a defined contribution one with Legal and General, and really hasn't made a lot (in fact lost money I think) over the past couple of years.

I realise there are ups and downs to the stock market, and that you have to be in it for the long term. This is fine, however I would like to see how it has performed relative to other defined contribution pension pots. As in, I would worry less if other pension schemes have performed at the same level as mine.

It's currently on the default investment fund, which is one of those lifestyle strategy things where you can't see the underlying funds, investments etc. I'm sure many other pension funds use the same strategies so is there a way to compare them?

I'm with L&G with my work pension. As soon as I joined I switched out of the expensive underperforming default fund and into a cheap global index tracker which has been growing steadily.

As a first step I suggest you watch Meaningful Money and James Shack on YouTube and start learning about funds and investment strategies. Pensioncraft is also excellent also on YouTube.

It's fantastic that you've taken the first step of questioning the default fund, I think around 80-90% of people don't even look at the fund they automatically get allocated.

Thanks @Amboseli I'll have a look at the resources you mentioned. I have done some research in the past, and for my S&S ISA I have it all in index trackers. However, I'm somehow strangely hesitant to do this for my pension. And like I say, I don't know how to actually assess the pensions current performance. For tracker funds, there is usually an info sheet to tell you how well it did against the benchmark, but I don't know what the benchmark would be for a lifestyled pension fund IYSWIM.

One other thing that is bothering me, is if I do switch investments, when should I do it? It performance hasn't been good in the last couple of years, and I think it probably got affected by the government bond issues, amongst general stock market stuff. Everything I read says don't move investments during a volatile period, but I'm not sure how long to wait!

I have 3 pensions at the moment and I track them monthly - tbh they are not that far apart.

Interestingly the slightly worst one was l&g. The best was actually one that was a sort of holding one a very old pension had been moved to that I was expecting to be the worst.

If you aren’t planning to buy an annuity on retirement, ‘Lifestyling’ pensions are a waste of time.

Anyone retiring in the last 18 months with a lifestyle fund would have found their pensions down 20% or so due to the unusual situation with Bonds tanking. Ok if they bought an annuity ( the rates have risen and are now dropping slightly) but they would have been stuffed if wanting a flexible income and they hadn’t moved 2-3 years of income into cash over the previous few years.
If you don’t want an annuity (or until after say 70/75 ) then it’s best to stay 100% in equities until 10 years before retirement, then you can look to derisk a portion of the funds by either having income funds with the income going into cash or selling some funds yearly to build a cash pot. Cash within a DC pension normally pays interest.

You can use Trustnet to track the performance of funds such as L&G if you know the name of the fund. It's free and you don't need to register. You can also compare the fund performance to the benchmark for its class and to other index trackers and providers over 1 yr; 5 yr and 10 yr time frames.
https://www.trustnet.com/

Add the funds you want to compare to the basket then on the right hand side choose examine these funds using Trustnet tools; then choose multi-plot charting from the drop-down menu.

I need to look at mine. I'm not happy with it.

@seekingasimplelife it doesn't seem to tell me what the funds are within the lifestyle package though, if you know what I mean so I don't know how I could check it on Trustnet. Just what % is in equities, bonds, property and so on, and how they are distributed across sectors and geographic regions.

@Yesterdayyesterday The pension lifestyle package might be listed on Trustnet as a whole. There are 360 Pension investments listed for L&G.

Here's an example - the L&G Pension (PMC) 2035-2040 Pathway Pn 3

https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/P/PXQD/l&g-pension-pmc-2035-2040-pathway-pn-3

There should be a factsheet about the fund on the l&g website. Or just Google the name of the fund and it should come up.

I'm with Aviva and the won't give me info on this and tell me I have to employ an ifa to make changes.... is this true?

@FluffyFluffy I don't think so, do you want to move from Aviva or just change which fund you're Invested in?

They should definitely give you details of exactly how your money is being Invested. I would ask them to point to the legislation which says you need an IFA.

@FluffyFluffy You can access your pension online with Aviva, see how its invested and make changes. You can do this even its a work place pension.
This site explains how to do it.
https://www.aviva.co.uk/help-and-support/managing-your-policy/retirement/pension/