I’ve been talking a lot about collective pensions to the point that you may think I’m disinterested in”pots” arising from DC pension saving. This is not the case.
This blog is about an excellent report produced by this group of DC consolidators that do it using personal pensions. Here the investment can be done yourself (SIPP) or left to fund managers as simple personal pensions. Here is the list- delivered alphabetically.
congratulations to them for working together
Transfers are not restricted to “pots”. In years to come you’ll be able to transfer to CDC as you can today with a public sector pension (including LGPS) ; with pension schemes you can swap DC pots for inflation linked pension.
But right now it is the retail personal pensions who are doing the heavy lifting for everybody else and having to do so because many of those providers not on this list are the cause of the trouble.
Here is the executive summary of the report…
If this is not important to the pensions industry, I do not understand . I have just returned from three days when pensions were discussed. Personal pensions were not discussed at any time, by anyone on the dance floor of its auditoriums.
Here is the finishing paragraph of the executive summary. It is of course a two way transfer
The Pension Commission is looking into the fate of those mentioned above who have no occupational pension or even workplace saving for a pension. Those people include the self-employed and those who have left work for whatever reason (including health) who must make the best of what they’ve saved. They are being badly treated and here is the report for you to read here or download here
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You are right the emphasis of has been on collective schemes where there is little opportunity for the individual to meet with “advice” .
So how minor is this ignored sector?
1. The Self-Employed (Sole Traders & Partnerships)
This group consists of individuals working for themselves who are not incorporated as limited companies.
• Total Number: Approximately 4.2 to 4.4 million people.
• Percentage of Workforce: Roughly 12% to 13% of the UK’s 34.2 million total employed persons.
• Trend: While full-time self-employment has seen a slight decline in early 2026, part-time self-employment and “side hustles” have increased significantly, with nearly 46% of UK adults reportedly engaging in some form of secondary income generation.
2. Owner-Directors of Small Companies
These are individuals who run their own businesses but do so through a limited company structure (often referred to as “director-only” or “micro-business” owners).
• Total Number: There are approximately 2.1 million actively trading limited companies in the UK.
• Non-Employers: Roughly 75% of all private sector businesses (approx. 4.3 million) have no employees other than the owners.
• Workforce Impact: When accounting for directors who pay themselves via salary/dividends, they add another 1.5 to 2 million individuals to the “self-driven” workforce.
This “minority” will be the ones most penalised by the tax on pensions including IHT
I fall into John’s category 2 above and have been using online platforms for SIPPs since 2015 (as well as ISAs and multi-currency non tax exempt trading since 1997). I subsequently transferred my pots from (group) personal pensions started in previous employment with more the traditional providers some years ago.
The most notable feature is the reduction in the charges taken out of my contributions or funds. One provider with who I have a SIPP, an ISA and a trading account charges me a single monthly flat management of £14.99 (an AMC of less than 0.03%) and that provides me with a £3.99 credit against transaction charges . The reduction in charges was one reason for my move from the more traditional providers even those with below norm AMCs when I discovered that my then IFA had encouraged me to spread my modest regular subscriptions across multiple funds and for each subscription the provider charged a minimum transaction charge which regularly exceeded 10% of the investment. I only became aware of the impact when I carefully read their 36 page annual charges summary. I then decided to become “self advised” and self invest on a monthly basis into a single fund based on a predetermined weighting scale (i.e. the new money goes into the worst performing [index tracking] fund). The result is a net IRR since 2015 (to last week) of 9.9% p.a.
All transactions are swiftly and efficiently dealt with through the online apps and as noted in the article drawdown products and opportunities to purchase annuities or potentially to transfer to retirement CDC are provided.
I do strongly believe that the current initiatives on small pot consolidation will only increase the relative attractiveness of the low cost online provided SIPP at the cost o the traditional pension products, whether provided through a mastertrust or not (with the possible exception of retail CDC).
The possibility of Investment mandation for mastertrusts may only increase the relative attractiveness of online SIPPs (I can foresee the “penny drop” marketing)!