If they don't compare, high charges will continue to exist. Investors should be aware of the 1 per cent benchmark. If your current plan is found wanting, go and buy another one', says Boulding. If you are thinking of taking out a new pension now, a number of providers are currently offering personal pensions which fall within, or are better than, the stakeholder charging requirements. While a small number beat the basic stakeholder performance for transfers after five years, all those shown, plus eight more, beat the 25-year stakeholder maturity value.
Performance is an aspect which the government has totally ignored.
With stakeholder, everything is based on charges. Stakeholders will be tracker funds. They can't be anything else because of charges. Of course, it is possible that not all stakeholder pension investors will be limited to trackers, which, say their critics, are bound to underperform the index. Some fund ranges may include actively managed funds with potentially more exciting performance.