Pensions table goes live on watchdogs website

As state support diminishes and we live longer, making provision for retirement has never been more important. The latest addition to the FSAs Comparative Tables will help consumers make comparisons between more than 80 personal and stakeholder pensions, based on a series of objective indicators, including:

• The effect of charges and deductions over the lifetime of a pension
  
• How expensive it is to stop paying into a pension after just three years
  
• Whether payments are invested in a unit-linked or with-profits fund
  
• The number of free switches allowed each year between funds offered by the same provider
  
• Whether a provider charges if payments are increased, decreased or missed.

Christine Farnish, Consumer Director at the FSA said:

There is no financial decision that is more important than buying a pension. Our latest Comparative Table makes it easy to see what sort of deal personal pension providers currently offer. It wont choose a pension for you but it does put some useful facts at your fingertips and will help you draw up a shortlist of products to investigate further or talk to your financial advisor about. And because were the financial watchdog, you can be confident that were not trying to sell you anything.

Further tables featuring investment bonds and mortgage and savings endowments will be made available in the coming weeks. Other products will follow next year.

The FSA Comparative Tables can be found at www.fsa.gov.uk/tables

Notes for editors

1. Only two significant providers declined to participate: St Jamess Place and Skandia.

2. The first Comparative Table, launched last month, features UK Growth Unit Trust & OEIC ISAs.

3. The FSA Comparative Tables are updated on a daily basis by The Research Department. CMG Admiral provides the technical solutions.

4. Information from the FSA Comparative Tables may be downloaded for printing or publishing purposes or into an Excel spreadsheet. However there are terms and conditions attached to doing so please check the website for details.

5. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; the protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.

6. The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.