Workplace pension funds: Performance tables 2025

The following interactive chart is an overview of the overall best and worst performing funds from the 276 we analysed. To see the two ends of the spectrum, toggle between the ‘Best performing’ and ‘Worst performing’ buttons.

To find out more about the categories we used, skip to ‘Why have we split funds into categories?’.

Here’s an explainer of the different ratings, and how we allocated funds to the various risk categories.

Toggle between ‘Best performing’, ‘Worst performing’ and the different time frames to see the results.

When were returns recorded?

Returns were recorded on either 16th or 17th January 2025 except in the case of Smart Pension funds. Data for these funds is taken from 1st January 2025.

Please note that considerable turbulence in the markets in recent weeks may have changed the position of funds in these performance rankings. For figures up to the current date, please consult data available from the platforms. As pensions are a long-term investment, however, savers should be aware that it is important to look at performance over at many years, and not to make decisions that could affect their financial wellbeing at retirement based on short-term market movements.

Which providers did we analyse?

In total, we’ve analysed 276 pension funds, provided by 18 of the UK’s leading workplace pension providers:

• Aegon/Scottish Equitable
• Aviva
• Clerical Medical
• Fidelity
• Legal & General
• Lloyds/TSB
• Nest
• NFU Mutual
• Now: Pensions
• Phoenix Life
• Prudential
• Royal London
• Scottish Widows
• St James Place
• Smart Pension
• SSGA
• Standard Life
• The People’s Pension
• Zurich

Which funds did we study?

The funds analysed collectively hold more than £508bn of UK retirement savers’ money.

Not every UK workplace pension fund is covered by this analysis. To choose which to include, we used the following criteria:

• Defined Contribution

We only studied Defined Contribution (DC) pensions. While the largest funds in the UK are actually Defined Benefit (DB) funds, the majority of these are now closed. In the case of some DB schemes, it is not possible to transfer out, and in most cases, transferring out of a Defined Benefit (DB) pension scheme to a defined contribution (DC) scheme is considered very unwise as it typically means giving up a guaranteed income for life and potentially ending up worse off. We therefore, only looked at Defined Contribution pensions.

• Large and default pension funds

While we have not included every single UK DC workplace pension fund in existence (these number thousands in total and include many that are relevant only to a handful of people), if you are in your workplace pension’s ‘default’ fund, or other large fund, then you are highly likely to be covered by this analysis.

A default pension fund is the investment option automatically chosen for employees in a workplace pension scheme if they don’t actively choose their own, alternative investment strategy. Our main objective has been to capture default fund data as this is where more than 90% of UK workers’ pensions savings go and remain.

Read more about ‘the problem with default funds’.

• More than 3 years of data

To be included in the analysis, the fund needed to have been established for at least 3 years. Pensions are long-term investments and it is not possible to fairly judge whether performance objectives are being met over any lesser period than 3 years. We would ideally suggest looking at a minimum of 5 years when assessing whether a fund has been meeting its objectives.

Do these figures include fees?

All data is net of the following fees: AMC (Annual Management Charge) and OCF/TER (Ongoing Charges Figure/Total Expense Ratio). However, please note that data is not net of additional fees levied by platforms.

Why did we do this analysis?

We set out to discover how well those UK workers who rarely actively engage with their workplace pension are being served by the funds they are placed into. And to raise awareness among those who are disengaged with their workplace pensions, of the importance of checking performance.

Knowing how your pension is performing (and how that performance compares to other similar funds and industry benchmarks) is the first step in ensuring your pension pot will be enough to achieve your retirement lifestyle goals.

In short, if you are in a workplace pension, having access to this kind of information could result in thousands of pounds more at retirement. It could even help you retire sooner.

While looking at the best and worst performers overall highlights just how much performance does vary, it doesn’t allow for differing fund objectives.

Some funds, for example, specifically avoid high risk/return investments in favour of more steady growth over the long-term, or shorter term ‘safe’ investments for those nearing retirement. It would be unfair and counterproductive to measure these funds against those that pursue higher risk / higher return growth.

Our goal was to allow people to measure like with like.

For that reason, we divided the funds into groups. We’ve done this is two different ways, using two different measures:

• ABI sector benchmarks
• The fund’s own risk ratings

ABI sector benchmarks

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) provides the widely used ABI Fund Sectors as a system for the classification of unit-linked life and pension funds with similar investment strategies.

All funds we have analysed fit into one of the following ABI sectors:

• Mixed Investment 0% – 35% Equities

Funds in this sector are required to have a range of different investments. Up to 35% of the fund can be invested in company shares (equities). At least 45% of the fund must be in fixed income investments (for example, corporate and Government bonds) and/or “cash” investments.

• Mixed Investment 20% – 60% Equities

Funds in this sector are required to have a range of different investments. The fund must have between 20% and 60% invested in company shares (equities). At least 30% of the fund must be in fixed income investments (for example, corporate and Government bonds) and/or “cash” investments.

• Mixed Investment 40% – 85% equities

Funds in this sector are required to have a range of different investments. However, there is scope for funds to have a high proportion in company shares (equities). The fund must have between 40% and 85% invested in company shares.

• Flexible Investment

Equity weighting can vary considerably over time and can be anything from 0-100%. Funds within this category can have very different objectives and equity weightings, so it’s worth reading the fund factsheet for these funds if you want to compare funds with closely matched objectives.

• Global Equities

Funds in this sector must invest at least 80% of their assets in equities. Funds must be invested in more than one equity region, and cannot include funds which would otherwise qualify for the Global Emerging Markets Equity sector. Funds within this category can have very different objectives, so it’s worth reading the fund factsheet for these funds if you want to compare funds with closely matched objectives.

Fund risk ratings

We have also analysed results using the risk rating allocated to each fund.

A fund risk rating is a numerical score (usually between 1 – 7) assigned to an investment fund that indicates how volatile its value is likely to be. It measures the potential for price fluctuations and therefore, the level of risk associated with investing in that fund.

Funds with a rating of 1 or 2 are less likely to lose money, but your money might not grow as much, because risk and return are linked. Funds with a rating of 6 or 7 have a much higher risk of losing money, but a higher potential for your money to grow.

While most providers use this 1-7 scale, some like to use a slightly different measure. To account for those differences, we have taken each individual scale used by providers, made comparisons to ensure we’re grouping like with like, and renamed the categories using words rather than numbers. So you will therefore see them referred to as:

• Low

On a standard 1-7 measure of risk, ‘low’ covers 1-2.

• Low-medium

On a standard 1-7 measure of risk, ‘low-medium’ covers 3.

• Medium

On a standard 1-7 measure of risk, ‘medium’ covers 4.

• Medium-high

On a standard 1-7 measure of risk, ‘medium-high’ covers 5.

• High

On a standard 1-7 measure of risk, ‘high’ covers 6-7.

Even using these measures, it’s important to note that not all funds within a category will have the same objectives.

Some fund managers will be using other benchmarks, such as returns a certain percentage above the Consumer Price Index, or to beat a particular index such as the FTSE 100, for example. Some have very vague measures of success, such as ‘the prospect of capital growth over the long term’, which is why we have not used funds’ own objectives as our main benchmark.

To view fund objectives, you’ll need to view the fund factsheet providers are obliged to produce for each fund.

The following are good questions to ask when selecting a fund:

• What is the objective of this fund?
• Does meeting that aim help me achieve my financial and retirement goals?
• Has the fund been meeting the goals it has set itself?
• How is this fund performing in relation to other funds in the same category?
• Is the fund meeting my expectations for performance?

We always recommend seeking help from an Independent Financial Advisor or Independent Financial Planner if you have any questions around the suitability of funds and pension plans for your retirement goals and financial circumstances.

There’s another benchmark that it’s interesting to use as a comparison: SIPPs.

A SIPP is a ‘self-invested personal pension’. That’s a type of private pension that allows you to take complete control of your investments. Our Best personal pension and SIPP page lists our highly recommended providers for this kind of pension.

Most platforms offer SIPP-holders the option of a ready-made portfolio, which is a pre-packaged basket of assets that are managed by professionals. It takes the pressure off those who don’t feel they have the time or expertise to pick their own stocks or other assets. We regularly monitor the performance of these ready-made portfolios offered by the UK’s SIPP providers, so that customers can see how successful different platforms have been in managing their clients’ funds.

Here’s how these ready-made portfolios, grouped into risk-rated categories, measure up to the workplace pension funds we’ve analysed.

There are relatively few SIPPs with more than 10 years’ data, so we’ve not made comparisons to the longer-term workplace pension funds.

However, you can see it’s a mixed bag, with some categories of SIPP ready-made portfolios performing better overall than workplace pension funds, while others fall behind.

If you want to know which platforms in particular have outstanding SIPP performance, visit our Best personal pension and SIPP page.

A significant majority of UK workplace pension savers are enrolled in their provider’s default investment fund. For instance, in the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), the UK’s largest workplace pension provider, 99% of members are invested in the default fund. Similarly, The People’s Pension reports that 98.61% of its members are in the default fund.

However, default funds are based on the likely best interests of the ‘average’ pension saver. They do not consider individual aspirations for retirement, or individual attitudes towards risk, which could vary widely from person to person.

If you are worried that your fund isn’t serving you well, consider other funds with different objectives. Seek advice from a retirement specialist independent financial adviser or planner if you are at all concerned you might not be in the most suitable pension fund for your goals.

Use our free Workplace Pension Checker tool!

All you need is the name of the fund in which your workplace pension is invested. This information should be freely available within your customer portal if you have one set up with your pension provider, or correspondence with your provider. Contact your workplace, or pension provider if you’re not sure.

This is the first step to ensuring the best outcome possible for your pension pot. It will help you see whether your fund is ticking along nicely and measuring up to others with similar objectives, or whether your fund’s performance has been falling behind.

And if you decide to change fund or provider, we’ve got tips on how to do this.

For all press enquiries, please contact: antonia@investinginsiders.co.uk