Types of pension and investment provider

When you pay into a pension, the money does not sit in a bank account. It is handed to a company that invests it on your behalf, and that company is your pension provider. Personal pensions are pensions that you arrange yourself: you choose the provider and decide how your contributions will be paid, either as regular monthly amounts or as lump sums¹. Personal pensions are available from banks, building societies and life insurance companies².

The provider landscape falls into a few recognisable groups. Traditional pension companies are insurers such as Aviva and Scottish Widows. Investment platforms such as AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor are online services that hold a range of investments, and most also run pensions³. Behind workplace pensions sits another set of providers, chosen by your employer rather than by you⁵. This page explains what each type does, what it charges, how to move between them, and how to find pensions you have lost track of.

Pension and investment providers: who runs your money

A pension provider is the firm that holds your pot, invests the money and deals with your contributions and withdrawals. The money you pay into a personal pension is put into investments, such as shares, by the pension provider¹. In most cases the provider also decides, within limits, where the money goes unless you choose otherwise, and it sends you a statement each year showing how much is in your pension⁹.

Providers come in several shapes, and the differences matter mainly for cost and choice rather than for safety. Personal pension schemes, including stakeholder pension schemes, are provided by insurance companies, banks and building societies¹⁰. Personal pensions are also sometimes arranged through an independent financial adviser, and some employers offer personal pensions as workplace pensions¹. A personal pension is an individual contract with the provider: even where an employer chose the provider, the pension belongs to you and normally moves with you when you change jobs¹¹.

Other people, including family members, can pay into a personal pension on your behalf¹². Your employer or pension provider should send you a form P60 each year if you are drawing a taxable pension, which is one way of keeping track of who is holding your money¹³.

The main types of provider you will come across are:

• Insurance companies and pension companies, such as Aviva and Scottish Widows, which run personal pensions, stakeholder pensions and workplace schemes⁴
• Investment platforms, such as AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity and Interactive Investor, which offer SIPPs and ready-made portfolios of funds⁵
• Workplace pension providers, chosen by your employer, which run defined benefit and defined contribution schemes⁹

Insurers and pension companies such as Aviva and Scottish Widows

The traditional pension provider is a life insurance company. Personal pensions are provided by insurance companies, often through banks and building societies, and sometimes through your workplace¹⁵. Big names such as Aviva and Scottish Widows are the best known examples, and they sit alongside the banks and building societies that also offer pensions².

What marks these companies out is the product range. As well as personal pensions, they run stakeholder pensions, which are a flexible type of personal pension with capped charges, lower minimum payments and fee-free transfers¹⁶. A stakeholder pension is a money purchase pension provided by a bank, building society or insurance company, and trade unions may also offer them to members¹⁷. Insurers are also the companies you buy an annuity from when you convert a pension pot into a guaranteed income¹⁸.

Insurers also run group personal pensions, which many employers use as their workplace scheme. These are set up by an employer with a pension provider to provide each employee with a pension, but your pension remains an individual contract between you and the provider chosen by your employer¹¹. Some insurers have added their own tools for finding and combining old pensions, such as Aviva's 'find, check and combine your pensions' service¹⁹.

If you have several older pensions, they may sit with insurers you no longer recognise, sometimes because the provider has changed hands or closed its book. The page on old pensions with closed and legacy providers explains what that means in practice.

Investment platforms such as AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor

An investment platform, sometimes called a fund supermarket, allows investors to buy and hold a range of investments in one place online, and sometimes with a smartphone app³. Platforms typically offer investment funds, and many also give access to stock-exchange-listed investments such as shares, investment trusts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds and other investments. Some platforms only offer investment funds³.

Several platforms also run pensions. Investment platforms such as AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity and Interactive Investor offer SIPPs and ready-made portfolios of funds⁵. A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) allows you to hold multiple investments and products, so you can manage your pension fund yourself and have more control over where your money goes²⁰. SIPPs usually offer the widest choice of investment options, including individual company shares¹⁶.

Platforms tend to suit people who want to see and manage their pension online, and who are comfortable choosing funds or using a ready-made portfolio. The trade-off is that wider investment choice means more decisions, and the fees are usually charged as a percentage of the value of your pot, so they rise and fall with it⁶. The site's guide to investment platforms covers how they work in more detail, and SIPPs explains the pension wrapper most platforms use.

Workplace pension schemes and the providers behind them

A workplace pension is a way of saving for your retirement that is arranged by your employer, and in most cases your employer also adds money into the scheme for you²¹. Workplace pensions are sometimes called 'occupational', 'works', 'company' or 'work-based' pensions²². All employers must offer a workplace pension scheme by law²³.

There are two types of workplace pension scheme: defined benefit and defined contribution⁹. In a defined contribution scheme, your employer chooses a pension provider to invest your pension contributions¹⁴. In a defined benefit scheme, the promise comes from the scheme itself rather than from an investment pot, and the defined benefit page explains how that works.

Some employers do not run their own scheme at all. Instead they offer a group personal pension, set up with a provider, or a stakeholder pension¹¹. These are workplace pensions in practice, but legally they are personal pensions held in your name, which matters if you move jobs or want to transfer: the workplace pensions page sets out the differences.

Your pension scheme provider will usually send you a statement each year showing how much is in your pension⁹. If you have a concern about how your workplace pension is being run, you can report it to The Pensions Regulator²⁴, and the master trusts page explains how the large multi-employer schemes used for automatic enrolment are supervised.

How your pension money is invested

Whatever type of provider holds your pension, the money is invested rather than saved. The money you pay into a personal pension is put into investments, such as shares, by the pension provider¹. Personal pensions are sometimes known as defined contribution or 'money purchase' pensions, and the same principle applies to defined contribution workplace schemes: what you end up with depends on how much you paid in, how well the investments have done, the provider's charges and how you take the money¹⁷.

UK pension schemes invest in different types of assets, including bonds (fixed-income investments) issued by corporations and governments, equities (shares in companies), property, infrastructure and other alternative investments²⁶. The mix matters because it drives both the growth and the risk in your pot.

Where the investments sit depends on the type of pension:

• A standard personal pension or workplace scheme usually offers a range of funds chosen by the provider, with a default fund if you do not choose¹⁶
• A stakeholder pension usually offers a range of funds with capped charges¹⁶
• A SIPP lets you choose from a much wider range, including individual shares¹⁶
• In drawdown, you can ask your provider to choose for you based on your preferences, using ready-made options called investment pathways, choose your own investments, or have a financial adviser manage them²⁷

Some people want more say over where their pension money goes, and being more hands-on is one reason people move from an insurer-run pension to a platform SIPP⁵. The default funds page explains what happens if you make no choice at all.

Fees and charges: platform, fund and scheme costs

Every provider charges for running your pension, and the charges compound over the years because they are usually taken as a percentage of the pot. A personal pension provider may charge you for starting and running your pension, and usually takes a percentage from your pension fund¹². In a defined contribution workplace scheme, the provider investing your pension may charge an amount based on the value of the pension⁹.

The main layers of charging are:

Workplace pension fees used for automatic enrolment are capped at 0.75%, which includes the fees charged by the pension providers and those charged by the fund managers⁵. The workplace charges and charge cap page explains what the cap covers and what sits outside it.

For personal pensions and SIPPs there is no single cap, and platform or account fees typically range from around 0.3% to 0.8% a year, depending on the provider and the size of your pension⁶. Because the fee is a percentage, a larger pot can attract a larger fee in cash terms, and some providers reduce the percentage for bigger balances.

Charges are one of the few things about a pension you can control directly, and they are worth checking on every statement. The Money and Pensions Service, which provides free pensions guidance, is funded by levies on both the financial services industry and pension schemes rather than by the companies it advises people about²⁹.

Choosing between a pension company and a platform

The practical choice for most people with a personal pension is between a traditional pension company and an investment platform. The two overlap more each year, but they still tend to differ in three ways: investment choice, cost structure and how much you do yourself.

A pension company such as an insurer typically offers a curated range of its own and third-party funds, with a default option if you do not want to choose¹⁶. A platform SIPP usually offers the widest choice of investment options, including company shares¹⁶. Platforms such as AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity and Interactive Investor also offer ready-made portfolios for people who want the choice without doing the picking⁵.

Who each type tends to suit, by circumstance rather than by ranking:

• A group personal pension or stakeholder pension with an insurer tends to suit someone who wants a simple arrangement, perhaps one set up through an employer, with capped charges and a default fund¹¹
• A platform SIPP tends to suit someone who wants to manage their pension online, hold a wide range of investments, and is comfortable with percentage-based fees⁵
• A stakeholder pension suits someone who wants low minimum contributions and fee-free transfers¹⁶

Moving between the two is possible. A pension transfer means moving money from one personal pension to another, or from a personal or workplace pension to a SIPP³⁰. In some cases it is also possible to transfer to a new provider after you have started to draw retirement benefits³¹. Before moving, check exit fees, whether you would lose guaranteed annuity rates or other valuable benefits, and whether regulated advice is required: the transferring between providers and transfer risks pages cover what to check.

Finding old pensions: tracing services and pensions dashboards

People accumulate several providers over a working life: every job with a pension, every personal pension started and forgotten. The free government Pension Tracing Service, provided by the Department for Work and Pensions, helps people find contact details for workplace and personal pension schemes⁷. To use it you need the name of an employer or a pension provider, plus your own details such as your National Insurance number, phone number and email address⁶.

The service has a limit worth knowing in advance: it does not tell you whether you have a pension. It gives you the contact details of pension providers, so you can track down old pensions yourself⁶. The same service is used after a death, to find details of a person's personal or workplace pension³³.

Pensions dashboards are set to change this. A pensions dashboard is an online tool where people can access their pension information, and the dashboards will show information about pensions from different providers and the State Pension securely and in one place³⁶. All dashboards will connect to a single digital ecosystem developed by the Pensions Dashboards Programme, so people can see their pensions wherever they are held³⁶. The Money and Pensions Service will lead the development and delivery of dashboards³⁷.

Progress is staged. As of December 2025, 700 pension providers and schemes had completed connection, representing over 60 million workplace and personal pension records⁸. The government has confirmed that the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard will be made available to the public before private sector dashboards⁸. The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority will regulate the pension schemes and providers sharing data with dashboards³⁶.

Rules for the dashboard services themselves are already in law. A provider of a pensions dashboard service must register with the Money and Pensions Service and connect in compliance with its connection, security and technical standards, must cooperate with the Money and Pensions Service, and must display the pension information a scheme provides as soon as it is received and without charge³⁸. Providers must also give users information on how to complain, including a link to the Money and Pensions Service central complaints process³⁸. The pensions dashboards page covers what will be shown and when.

Where to get free guidance and help

Guidance about pensions is free and independent of the providers. MoneyHelper provides free and impartial money and pensions guidance³⁹, and the Money and Pensions Service, which runs it, is an independent, non-profit making organisation⁴⁰. Any organisation can offer guidance, but free pension guidance is provided by MoneyHelper⁴¹.

The main free services are:

• MoneyHelper, a free, impartial, government-backed service covering all areas of pensions³²
• Pension Wise, a free guidance service backed by the government and provided by MoneyHelper, with appointments you can book to discuss your pension options²⁵
• The Pension Tracing Service, for finding contact details of old schemes⁷
• The Pensions Regulator, for reporting concerns about a workplace pension²⁴

Guidance is not the same as advice: guidance includes general information and signposting about pensions but does not include a recommendation⁴¹. If you need a recommendation, that comes from a regulated financial adviser, usually for a fee.

If things go wrong with a provider, complaints can be taken to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which can look at complaints about pensions organised by employers and about personal pensions²², and to the Pensions Ombudsman. The complaining about a provider page explains the route. If you believe you were mis-sold a financial product, including a pension, there is a set process for raising it²⁰.

Free help also exists for specific situations. Debt charities such as StepChange support people over 55 dealing with pension and debt questions³², and National Debtline publishes guidance on pension freedoms and debt³². The Money and Pensions Service has launched a guide to taking your pension, focused on defined contribution pensions and distributed by pension providers⁴³, and offers a pensions and divorce appointment service to guide people on next steps, including where to find regulated financial advice if needed⁴⁴. The Pension Wise page explains what an appointment covers.