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Find out how to track down of some of your old pension funds with Profile Pensions.
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Profile Pensions is a service that helps you find missing pension pots and consolidate them into one – letting you keep track of them all in the same place, potentially reducing your fees and helping you make the most out of your pension.
We’ve looked at how Profile Pensions works, how much it costs and whether it can help you pull off your dream retirement in the countryside or on the beach.
What is Profile Pensions?
Profile Pensions is a digital and telephone-based pension adviser. Profile Pensions doesn’t hold any funds, so it isn’t a pension provider, but it will help you track down your pensions, tell you if you’re currently on a good deal and help you switch if you decide to do so.
It says it currently has around 25,000 customers in the UK and offers both a one-off initial service (tracking and switching of your pension) and a maintenance service (monitoring of your pension to make sure you’re on the best deal).
How does Profile Pensions work?
The process may take a few weeks and will usually happen in the following steps:
- Sign up. You’ll need to fill in an online form giving Profile Pensions your details and the information you already have about your pensions. You can ask it to track down any that are missing.
- Profile Pensions finds and reviews your pensions. After you’ve signed up, Profile Pensions will track down all your pensions for you (which will take six weeks on average) and review them and their performance (depending on how long it takes for the providers to get back to Profile Pensions, this may take another eight weeks). So all in all, it could be around three months before you hear from Profile Pensions again.
- A pension adviser calls you back. The adviser will tell you what they’ve found and whether they have a better deal in mind for you, which happens in approximately 70% of cases, Profile Pensions says. Up until this point, the service comes for free.
- You switch (if you want to). If Profile Pensions is unable to help you improve your pension deal, or if you decide not to take the advice, nothing happens. Instead, if you do decide to switch, Profile Pensions will take care of that as well, but ask for a fee in return.
- Profile Pensions keeps monitoring your pension (if you want). For a yearly fee, Profile Pensions will keep an eye on your pension, tracking its performance and checking that you’re still making the best out of it. Your adviser will also schedule a yearly call to update you on how things are looking. You can opt-out of the monitoring service at any time.
What other options are available?
There are a number of pension advisers available out there, so Profile Pensions definitely isn’t your only shot. With many, you’ll have to visit them in person, but there are other digital services that allow you to do it online.
In addition to comparing fees and prices, always make sure your financial adviser is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
If you only want to look for your old pensions and you’ve forgotten where your employers were holding them, the government also has a free searchable database of pension providers.
Instead, if you’re looking for a digital service that both tracks down your pensions and directly invests and manages them, you may want to take a look at PensionBee.
How much does Profile Pensions cost?
Having your pensions found and receiving advice comes free. If you then decide to switch, Profile Pensions will 1% on the amount that you transfer. There is a maximum fee of £2,500 per policy.
If you choose to also have Profile Pensions monitor your pension, you’ll be charged around 0.83% to 0.92% a year, depending on which funds you choose (which you’ll pay monthly). This is made up of a platform charge (0.12%0, a fund charge (around 0.11% – 0.20%) and ongoing advice (0.6%).
Is Profile Pensions safe?
Profile Pensions will advise you on investing your pension funds, which always carries a risk: investments can go up as well as down so you should always keep that in mind. Speak to your Profile Pensions adviser about the level of risk you’re willing to take and they’ll advise you accordingly.
Profile Pensions doesn’t hold any funds, so your deposits are as safe as your provider keeps them: always check they’re protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Finally, as an adviser, Profile Pensions is registered with the FCA and covered by the FSCS: basically, in case of misleading advice, poor investment management or misrepresentation, the government will reimburse you 100% of your investment up to £85,000.
Pros and cons of Profile Pensions
Pros
- Quick and easy online sign-up
- Free pension tracking and advice
- Personalised service
- FCA regulated and FSCS protected
Cons
- Profile Pensions doesn’t manage your money directly
- There may be extra fees charged by the provider
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