The picture above is from Corporate Adviser (provided by BehindLogin) and perhaps explains the lack of attention paid to our pension by technology. Pensions are outnumbered and probably under-used. I tested my usage on my phone.

I have apps with three banks, one investment company and accounts with two pensions , it is a joy banking on my phone, my investments are fine (and easy enough) but I don’t dare trying to manage my pension accounts (to my pots) on my phone. Legal and General offer me a good service if I access via my browser and with weak eyesight that means using a laptop.

Nest is a total nightmare whether I use my phone or a laptop. To be honest, I find Nest so hard , I have also given up on it, except for my now having a foul up with contributions which means I have to.

The difference between using First Direct and Starling and using Nest (and to a lesser account L&G) is the difference between “open banking” and “closed pensions”. I have used Pension Bee’s app and I know that pensions can be manageable by even an old bloke like me, but I didn’t think that I’d have to move my money to them because I needed to . Now- especially with Nest – I feel I should, if I wasn’t 63 I certainly would to avoid having to deal with Nest!

Here is Corporate Adviser’s excellent article on BehindLogin’s service

There is a league table on Behind Login’s website

My service with L&G is good enough to get them on the podium, you can speak to someone at L&G without having to go through a labyrinth of verifications and getting cut off half the time. L&G will allow you to find out what you can online and when you are confused provide you with what I call “targeted support” and most people would call “advice”. I know where to go and that’s why L&G have most of my money (the funds I use are on other’s platforms including Pension Bee’s.

At Nest , I seem to have two accounts, both in my name but one I can’t know about because I don’t have sufficient verification and though the money in the account came from my company as a contribution, I am awaiting permission to know where it is invested! I dread to guess what’s going on below Nest!

Value for money

The capacity of an individual to know what he or she is going on and do what’s needed is important. More people are familiar with self-service thanks to open banking to the point where most of us can follow navigation and find a way to what we want on our phones.

But pensions aren’t there yet (well not with workplace pensions).

The service that the research outfit BehindLogin and brought to our attention by Corporate Adviser

I’m hoping that in months and years to come , savers will be able to get ratings of more providers (like People’s and Smart -and whoever  was redacted – perhaps one of the consultancies). I know how hard it is to get providers to play ball on this kind of work and will reach out to Oliver Lane to share our experience with providers 10 to 15 years ago.

Here is what BehindLogin promise us if we subscribe to their full service. It is what we wanted to do,

In my opinion, employers should be testing the provider’s service with these kind of insights from experts and relying much more on this work than on traditional advisers. The premium insights look worth investigation ,  the free snapshot has already been used by Corporate Adviser who I am engaging with on VFM.

There is very little help for consumers and the sooner we get to the world Pension PlayPen wanted to be standard when workplace pensions were being bought (2012-2018). There needs to be a way for employers to rate their provider which needs a rating such as that provided by BehindLogin. There needs to be a proper VFM forecast for decumulation and VFM.

That also means historic analysis of what’s happened since 2012 (at least). Capdata looks like the way forward, opening the door not just for published data but for risk adjusted returns and an analysis of how performance translated into results (through analysis of member’s contribution histories against achieved pot values..

There needs to be a balanced scorecard so that savers and employers can know who to go forward with. The work of Corporate Adviser through Capdata , of Behind Login and our work at AgeWage need to be brought together with the power we find ratings agencies have in Australia. I look forward to meeting Bec Wilson next month to find out more of their work.

The gap is clear but so is the opportunity!