In this guide, we review Penfold and look at what it offers. We also compare its pension to products offered by competitors such as PensionBee, Nutmeg, and Hargreaves Lansdown.
Penfold Customer Reviews
Polite, knowledgeable, helpful
Polite, knowledgeable, helpful
Polite, knowledgeable, helpful
Polite, knowledgeable, helpful
Better UX and targeted at…
Better UX and targeted at young people
It’s actually made looking at…
It’s actually made looking at my pension exciting
Everything is made easy compared…
Everything is made easy compared to other pension providers. I like how transparent they are with money matters.
Amazing! Thanks
Amazing! Thanks
Clear information, easy to use…
Clear information, easy to use website, good customer service
Simple, easy to use platform…
Simple, easy to use platform from Penfold. App is simple to use and email content spot on and easy to follow. My pension pot is increasing nicely with low fees.
Decent
Decent
Easy to set up pension…
Easy to set up pension fund and to monitor how my pension is operating.
I like how easy it…
I like how easy it is to manage my pension and see how it’s performing.
The app is easy to…
The app is easy to use. Straightforward
I have had an excellent…
I have had an excellent experience with Penfold since joining in 2022. Monthly tax bonus is great and I feel my pension is safe with Penfold.
Fantastic Fin tech company
Fantastic Fin tech company
Very easy and straightforward.
Very easy and straightforward.
Very good company
Very good company
Very easy to understand and…
Very easy to understand and interact with, without losing more advanced options.
5/5
Simple and straightforward, but fees…
Simple and straightforward, but fees are a little high.
Its been a very positive…
Its been a very positive experience since opening an pension with them
Their apps is easy to…
Their apps is easy to use and your can always track how much you have paid into the pension scheme. It’s also very flexible regarding the payment and support is fast and competent in their responses
Explains pensions and long-term savings…
Explains pensions and long-term savings so well – I had to pick one of four providers to consolidate pensions into and Penfold was the obvious choice
Good customer support
Good customer support
New pension provider, not much…
New pension provider, not much exposure, simple funds but high fees compared.
Test
Test
4/5
Cons:
have a folder with more precise information
5/5
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Easy to navigate webpage. Solid and trustworthy and researched information
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Helpful and reasonable fees
Cons:
Nothing yet
5/5
Pros:
Simple to Handle and the customer service is great: very friendly and helpful
Cons:
Nothing I can think off
1/5
Pros:
Social media engagement
5/5
Pros:
Amazing app and customer service
4/5
3/5
Pros:
n/a
5/5
Pros:
Simplicity
5/5
2/5
4/5
5/5
Pros:
Everything was so straight forward
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use- great for self employes
5/5
Pros:
The people behind the platform
Cons:
Keep doing what your doing
5/5
Pros:
Very easy to understand
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
I can see how my investments are doing, pause contributions and change amount easily. The calculator of final pot is useful also.
Cons:
Continue the good work. Perhaps show what the total pension pot will be worth as well as yearly income from it in a more accessible place.
5/5
Pros:
Accessible
Cons:
Customer service
5/5
Pros:
Simplicity of use
5/5
Pros:
Easy to see pension projection for when I retire
Cons:
I canÔÇÖt think of anything
5/5
Pros:
education
5/5
Pros:
app
Cons:
nothing
4/5
Pros:
No fuss, straight forward and they seem to keep on top of things
Cons:
Unsure at the moment
5/5
2/5
Pros:
Logging off
Cons:
Increase your customer support team. Gideon is great but he needs support
5/5
5/5
Pros:
The bonuses they give customers plus great services provided
Cons:
No thought
5/5
Pros:
Accessibility
Cons:
Process money faster
3/5
4/5
Pros:
Easy to monitor via app, easy to top up
Cons:
More visual on how things are going up and down, I find graphs easier to visualise that rather than just a chunk on what’s come in or gone out
1/5
Pros:
They are accessible and easy to understand and monitor
Cons:
tips and guidance on the latest investment trends
5/5
Pros:
Very easy to use, makes pensions easy to understand.
Cons:
I can’t think of anything
5/5
Pros:
Customer friendly, easy to understand
Cons:
I haven’t had any issues
5/5
Pros:
Very Easy to use
Cons:
Improve the Graphics of the Mobile APP
4/5
5/5
Pros:
Na
Cons:
Na
5/5
Pros:
How easy it was to set up
Cons:
I can’t say
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use and access
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Really easy to set up, peace of mind for freelancers
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Advice and updates
Cons:
NA
5/5
Pros:
Easy to manage
Cons:
Not sure at the moment all good so far
5/5
Pros:
UI
Cons:
invest in crypto
5/5
Pros:
Very easy to see how much I have contributed, and to tweak upcoming contributions
Cons:
Explaining what the % growth means, and if that’s ever ‘realised’ into my account,
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Quick an easy to set up
Cons:
IÔÇÖm not sure
5/5
Pros:
The dashboard shows me the progress I’m making investing in my pension
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
Cons:
Reduce costs
5/5
Pros:
They make a complicated process simple.
5/5
Pros:
Very transparent
Cons:
N/A
5/5
Pros:
ItÔÇÖs simplicity and ease of use. It does everything I need it to.
Cons:
Nothing – really happy with the service
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use and transparency of costs
5/5
Pros:
very easy to use
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use, ability to add more money or pause
4/5
Pros:
Sharia
Cons:
Improve
5/5
Pros:
APP
Cons:
ItÔÇÖs Easy to use and straight forward no improvements needed
5/5
Cons:
N0thing
5/5
Pros:
Customer service and support
Cons:
N/A
5/5
Pros:
The clear UI and UX design of their website and app, makes it all very easy to use and understand.
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Pause and restart contribution
Cons:
Offer other products
5/5
Pros:
The app is very usable
Cons:
Try to get the money from HMRC quicker
3/5
Pros:
find details in opening a pension complicated but penfolds helped me in a calm step by step way I understood friendly and treats each person as an individual good one to one customer service never worried about any questions we have always helpful and finds relevant answers.
Cons:
maybe find some better trades with higher interest so can build better on my pension
5/5
3/5
Cons:
It gave little me whoÔÇÖs not a big fish be able to invest
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use and I can see what my pension is doing at a touch of a button
Cons:
All ok at the moment
2/5
Pros:
Nothing really just take their fees and watch your investment drop!!
Cons:
The fund invested in we are told by penfold is one of the top performing funds!! yet it is always down!!
5/5
Pros:
Perfect
Cons:
More communication
5/5
Pros:
It just all works perfectly
Cons:
Honestly nothing
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use and deposit money in when i want too also love the fact i can see all the money i have put in,transfered and what has been topped up its a great feature
Cons:
Nothing i actually love the way it works now
5/5
5/5
Pros:
It is Easy and reliable invest as now now
Cons:
No idea
5/5
Pros:
i can bacs money to them, makes life easier
Cons:
make it all automated, so i dont have to tell them i am sending money
5/5
Pros:
App easy to use
Cons:
N/A
5/5
Pros:
Simplicity
Cons:
Not sure
5/5
Pros:
Very easy to use very clear.
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Flexibility
Cons:
Nothing
4/5
Pros:
They are very easy to use with no hassle!
5/5
Pros:
Very easy to join them and good service
Cons:
Give customer clear guidance about the investment
5/5
Pros:
Easiness of use
Cons:
Do know
5/5
Pros:
They are easy to join and have good explanations of how your pension is doing.
Cons:
I canÔÇÖt think of anything right now.
5/5
Pros:
Super Easy to navigate
5/5
Pros:
Flexible
5/5
Pros:
Flexibility
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use and understand
Cons:
I honestly can’t think of anything as I’m very happy!
5/5
Pros:
Ease of access via app
5/5
Pros:
Can see my money grow and choose which type of investments
5/5
Pros:
Na
Cons:
Add more shariah compliant commodities
5/5
Pros:
Easy to add money to your pot and easy to see progress.
Cons:
Some things are only possible to do on the app.
5/5
Pros:
so easy to use and be able to just had funds to my pension is great
5/5
Pros:
The ease of the whole thing – of being able to watch my money grow so quickly! Also the ease of joining and using the app.
Cons:
Tell as many freelance people as possible before theyÔÇÖre old like me!
5/5
Pros:
Everything
5/5
Pros:
It is there saving scheme
Cons:
Protect there honesty and truthfulness
5/5
Pros:
Ease of pension consolidation and plan choice
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
ease of investment
Cons:
stop updating apps.
5/5
Pros:
Customer service is top-notch, easy to use and innovative app
Cons:
Nothing!
4/5
2/5
Pros:
After a year of investing my pension with penfold it is down down and still costs me for the privilege!!
Cons:
The fund invested in appears to be doing well according to an penfold correspondence yet that does not reflect in the the growth of pension??!!
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use with plenty of options for risk management
Cons:
Lower fee costs
5/5
Pros:
NO NONSENSE LANGUAGE
Cons:
MORE BLOGS
5/5
Pros:
Friendly
Cons:
Doing great
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Easy to set up
Cons:
Better communication
5/5
Pros:
very easy to use and voting on invested companies reports
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use and visibility
5/5
Pros:
Openness Transparency
5/5
Pros:
Simplicity and control, easy to invest.
Cons:
Earn me more on my investment
5/5
Pros:
Keeping in touch with customers
Cons:
Can’t think of anything
5/5
Pros:
Extremely user friendly
Cons:
Help with commercial properties
5/5
Pros:
Can see total with a click of a button
Cons:
More money
5/5
Pros:
How easy to use
Cons:
Nothing
3/5
5/5
Pros:
You can see everything
5/5
Pros:
It is very transparent
Cons:
Nothing right now, Happy with the service
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use
Cons:
Forecasting tools, more support on using your pension (e.g. annuities)
5/5
Pros:
Straight forward, transparent and easy to understand and manage (especially being a Sole Trader)
Cons:
Minor tweaks with the app and website, but they work very well already.
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use.
Cons:
Make it easier to change the monthly payment amount.
4/5
Pros:
Ease of set up
Cons:
Performance graphs
5/5
Pros:
ease of dealing with and adding to
Cons:
pay in tax relief quicker
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
Cons:
Mobile app could work a bit better
5/5
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Quick, simple, informative, engaged
Cons:
Link to bank accounts and provide an offering for employers
5/5
Pros:
Very good pension, app is great and easy to use
Cons:
Not a lot, seems all great so far
5/5
Pros:
Well thought out app
5/5
Pros:
Easy
Cons:
Make more money
5/5
Pros:
easy to use
5/5
Pros:
Simple
5/5
Pros:
Easy to manage
Cons:
Live projected pots
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Great App, efficient communication
Cons:
Nothing in my opinion
5/5
Pros:
So easy to set up and track
Cons:
Perfect for me
5/5
Pros:
Easy to understand tax relief
5/5
Pros:
Customer services and low fees
Cons:
All brilliant
5/5
5/5
Pros:
Very speedy help, support and advice
Cons:
Nothing
4/5
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
Cons:
Give prizes sometimes to clients
4/5
Pros:
Easy to set up and access
Cons:
Make it easier to reach a person
4/5
5/5
Pros:
Very accessible platform with good personal back up support.
5/5
Pros:
Simple to set up/use and easy to track my investment
Cons:
I don’t have any suggestions at present
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use, easy to set up, superb customer service.
Cons:
Nothing!
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use in general and the app
Cons:
No thoughts
5/5
Pros:
Everything
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Flexibility
5/5
Pros:
Easy to set up and I like their environmental/green investment
Cons:
No issues at present
5/5
Pros:
Very easy to use
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
I can see on the app how my investment is doing and change the risk level
5/5
Pros:
Easy and simple
Cons:
Educate me more
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
Cons:
Set up very quickly
5/5
Pros:
Ease of access
5/5
Pros:
Helps me understand my pension without feeling stupid
Cons:
Ease of use
5/5
5/5
Pros:
It was very easy to consolidate my 3 pension accounts
Cons:
…
5/5
Pros:
App is extremely easy to use
Cons:
Nothing comes to mind
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
5/5
Pros:
accessible, easy to use, straightforward. Specifically designed for freelancers like me.
5/5
Pros:
Usability.
5/5
Pros:
Ease of use.
Cons:
Not sure
5/5
Pros:
Clear and easy to navigate
5/5
Pros:
The app info
Cons:
Nithing
5/5
Pros:
Their customer services and the way they update their customers on any relevant matter.
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
Pros:
Easy to use
Cons:
Nothing
5/5
1/5
Pros:
Nothing
Cons:
Stop making stupid mistakes
5/5
Pros:
being able to see the investment status easily
Cons:
dont know
5/5
Pros:
Good to pension pot grow
Cons:
Not only be rewarded for switching pensions and referral .. should reward loyal customers also invest in crypto 
5/5
Pros:
Everything
Cons:
Update all the time.
Leave a review
- Tell us what you think of this company and help others make more informed financial decisions.
Penfold Pension Expert Review
In this review we:
- Give our ratings based on their nearest peers
- Tell you what we think of Penfold after testing them with real moneyÂ
- Highlight the key costs, facts and figures of the Penfold accounts
Penfold Pension Review
Name: Penfold
Description: Penfold is an online provider of pensions. A digital alternative to traditional pension companies, it enables users to quickly set up a pension, and manage it online or with its app. A relatively new player in the UK pensions space, Penfold was set up in May 2018, and became regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in May 2019. The company was founded by three technology experts who previously worked at Deloitte and Funding Circle an since then Penfold has grown significantly since then, now serving over 100,000 users.
Is Penfold a good pension?
Yes, Penfold, is one of the new breed of pension providers that combines tech with personal service. Via the app you can start a pension in less than 10 minutes and also talk to an expert advisor on the phone if you need help.
- Investments:Â Managed funds
- Minimum investment: £1
- Pension charges: 0.4% to 0.88%
Fees: Penfold charge a single fee for their service which includes account and investment management fees. The fee is 0.75% for savings up to £100k, and 0.4% on any amount over £100k. The Sharia plan fee is 0.88% for savings up to £100k, and 0.53% on any amount over £100k
Pros
- Easy-to-use app and web interface
- Projected retirement income
- Ability to set savings goal
- Detailed insights into investments
Cons
- Relatively new company
- Slightly more expensive than robo-advisors
-
Pricing
-
Market Access
-
Online Platform
-
Customer Service
-
Research & Analysis
Overall
4.1Penfold is a UK pension provider that offers a flexible, easy-to-use pension designed for private savers and those who run limited companies. It allows customers to set up a pension online with zero paperwork. Penfold also offer a modern auto enrolment workplace pension for businesses.
- Related guide: Our picks of the best SIPP providers in the UK
Penfold’s goal is to make pensions easy, so it has designed a product that can be set up in less than 10 minutes. To open an account, you simply enter your personal details, verify your identity, and make a contribution. You can open a Penfold pension from as little as a £1 one off deposit or by transferring an existing pension.
The Penfold pension is like any other UK pension scheme in that your contributions are eligible for tax relief. Tax relief can be thought of as a reward from the government for saving for retirement – when you make a contribution into your pension, the government adds money for you too. Basic-rate taxpayers are entitled to tax relief of 20% on their contributions while higher-rate and additional rate-taxpayers can potentially reclaim another 20% and 25% respectively.
What Can You Invest In With Penfold?
 With Penfold, there are five main investment options:
- Lifetime. The Lifetime Penfold plan spreads your money across many different assets and automatically adjusts your investment risk levels as you approach retirement. The aim is to grow your savings more early on, before gradually shifting your money into safer investments as you get older
- Standard. With Penfold’s Standard plan, your money is invested across a wide range of investments and industries. There are four different risk levels you can choose here, depending on your risk tolerance
- Sustainable. The Penfold Sustainable plan is designed for those who want to invest on a socially responsible basis. This fund invests in companies with the highest ESG ratings relative to their peers within each sector
- Sharia. Penfolds Sharia plan is designed for those seeking Sharia-compliant investments. This plan excludes investments in industries such as alcohol, tobacco, pork, weapons, and adult entertainment
- Sustainable Lifetime. The Sustainable Lifetime plan from Penfold is designed for those who want to invest on a socially responsible basis and have their investment risk level change automatically to safer investments when approaching retirement.
It’s worth pointing out that the Lifetime, Standard, and Sustainable plans are all managed by BlackRock – the largest asset manager in the world – which uses advanced technology to spread capital over a wide range of investments. The Sharia plan is managed by HSBC Global Asset Management, which invests users’ savings across a wide range of different companies that operate in a Sharia-compliant way.
- Related guide: How to start a private pension
Penfold Pension Fees & Costs
Penfold charges one transparent annual fee for managing your pension that covers everything within its pension service. This annual fee is between 0.75% and 0.88%, depending on the plan you choose. Penfold automatically deducts a portion of your annual fee from your pension in 12 monthly instalments.
If your pension is larger than £100,000, the annual fee is reduced to either 0.40% or 0.53% (depending on the plan you choose) on the portion of your savings over this amount.
Advantages of Penfold:
- It’s easy to set up. You can set up a pension in just five to 10 minutes
- Several investment options. There’s a range of investment options to choose from, depending on your requirements and risk tolerance
- You can adjust and pause your contributions if you need to
- Investment and saving insights. The ‘Explore Your Pension’ feature gives you visibility into your investments, including a breakdown of the companies you have a stake in. You can also track how much you have saved, and the projected future value of your Penfold pension
- Pension consolidation options. You can transfer and combine multiple old pensions into your Penfold account
- Tax relief. As with other UK pension products, contributions come with tax relief.
Disadvantages of Penfold:
- Limited investment options. Compared to a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension), Penfold does not offer many investment options
- High fees. Fees may be higher than those of competitors’ products, depending on the size of your account and the investments you select.
How Does Penfold Compare To Other Pension Providers?
Comparing Penfold to other managed pension providers such as PensionBee and Nutmeg, there isn’t much difference between their products. All three companies offer pensions that are easy to set up and allow you to choose between several different investment plans.
The three platforms do have different fee structures, however. When comparing Penfold to PensionBee, the annual fee is between 0.50% and 0.95% depending on the plan you choose, and fees are halved on the portion of your savings over £100,000.
With Nutmeg, fees range between 0.72% and 1.14% depending on your investment plan, with lower fees for savings over £100,000. So, Penfold may be more expensive than PensionBee and Nutmeg.
Comparing Penfold to traditional pension providers such as Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, and Interactive Investor – which all offer SIPPs – the main advantage of Penfold is its user-friendly nature. With Penfold, you can set up a pension plan in a few minutes. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about managing your own investments.
On the downside, you have far less investment options with Penfold. With Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, and Interactive Investor, you can invest in UK shares, international shares, funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), investment trusts, and bonds. However, with Penfold, you only have a few investment plans to choose from.Â
Penfold’s fees can also be higher than SIPP fees. Hargreaves Lansdown’s annual SIPP fee, for example, is 0.45% which is significantly lower than Penfold’s annual fee of between 0.75% and 0.88%.
Penfold Alternative Pension Providers
Private Pension Provider | Pension Account Charges | SIPP or Managed | Minimum Investment | GMG Rating | More Info |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.25% – 0.1% | SIPP | £500 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
0.45% – 0.25% | SIPP | £1 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
£5.99 a month | SIPP | £1 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
0.6% – 0.3% | Managed | £50 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
0.15% | SIPP | £1 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
0.4% – 0.2% | SIPP | £1 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
0.75% -0.35% | Managed | £500 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
0.75% – 0.35% | Managed | £500 | See Pension Capital at risk |
||
Based in London, Edward is a distinguished investment writer with an extensive client portfolio comprising a diverse array of prominent financial services firms across the globe. With over 15 years of hands-on experience in private wealth management and institutional asset management, both in the UK and Australia, he possesses a profound understanding of the finance industry.
Before establishing himself as a writer, Edward earned a Commerce degree from the prestigious University of Melbourne. Complementing his academic background, he holds the esteemed Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and is a proud holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification.
Widely recognized as a sought-after investment expert, Edward’s insightful perspectives and analyses have been featured on sites such as BlackRock, Credit Suisse, WisdomTree, Motley Fool, eToro, and CMC Markets, among others.
You can contact Ed at edward@goodmoneyguide.com