Research and analysis

Pension charges survey 2020: charges in defined contribution pension schemes

This report measures the types and levels of charges across defined contribution trust-based and contract-based workplace pension schemes.

Documents

Pension charges survey 2020: charges in defined contribution pension schemes

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A3 data collection template

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Details

The pension charges survey 2020 is designed to capture the full range of charges applied to defined contribution (DC) workplace pension schemes that are open to new members in the period after April 2016. Specifically, it seeks to:

  • measure average overall charge levels and the distribution of overall charges across pension pots
  • measure the prevalence and level of different charge components within the cap
  • confirm that charge components now banned are no longer being levied

The results are segmented by different scheme types and characteristics, such as the number of members of the scheme, and whether the scheme is a master trust, a trust-based or contract-based scheme.

The study also collected information about a range of charges which, although outside the cap, are considered relevant, such as transaction costs.

This survey follows the Pension charges survey 2015 and the Pension charges survey 2016.

Authors: Phil Stubington, Andrew Wood, Dr Louise Amantani and Alex Belcher

Updates to this page

Published 13 January 2021

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