Less than half of people know how their pension investments are performing, according to research from Hargreaves Lansdown (HL).
A survey of 1,500 people carried out by Opinium on behalf of HL found that just 47 percent of individuals track how their pensions are doing. Men are significantly more likely to know than women, with 58 percent of men keeping tabs on their pensions compared with only 36 percent of women.
Awareness also varies by age. Half of those aged 18-34 and 51 percent of those over 55 know how their pension is performing. By contrast, only 43 percent of those in the 35–54 bracket said they understood their pension performance.
For savers who didn’t know how their pension fund was doing, 20 percent blamed “not knowing what to look for”, 18 percent said they “didn’t know they needed to check”, and 15 percent admitted they “didn’t know how to check.”
Clare Stinton, head of workplace saving analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the findings highlight worrying gaps in knowledge.
“More than half of people (53 percent) don’t know how their pension investments are performing, and the picture becomes even starker when viewed through a gender lens. Just 36 percent of women are in the know, compared to 58 percent of men. This gap in awareness is present across the age spectrum, and it matters, because investment performance is one of the biggest drivers of pension growth,” she said.
Stinton warned that failing to engage early could have lasting consequences.
“The gender pension gap doesn’t happen overnight, it builds over a lifetime, due to career breaks, the gender pay gap, and more women working part-time. Understanding your pension and taking early action can narrow the gap. Supercharging contributions in your 20s and 30s, paired with checking in on how your investments are doing while you have decades ahead, can deliver powerful long-term results,” she explained.
HL data shows that financial education provided alongside auto-enrolment can transform engagement. Without support, only around 25 percent of men and 15 percent of women choose investments outside the default fund. With one-to-one expert guidance, these figures rise to 45 percent and 29 percent respectively.
Stinton said the FCA’s Value for Money framework and the government’s advice guidance boundary review are crucial in ensuring more people make informed decisions.
“We need to help people join the dots between today’s decisions and tomorrow’s financial freedom,” she added.
- For more on how your pension provider is performing against the rest of the industry download the Benefits Expert Guide to Workplace Pensions 2025. And you can read the guide’s headline findings here.
- Find out more about CAPAdata in the story titled ‘Pensions transparency enters new phase as CAPAdata launches platform with trailblazer CEO’.
- See the latest workplace pension performance data visit www.capadata.co.uk
