Pension gain in the last 2 years

[type-r]

I have a company pension and use one of the big pension companies to manage it. I have split the funds into a mixed portfolio of a Jupiter fund and a Blackrock fund. In the two years I have had the pension including the amount I transferred in, it is around the 40k mark. I have seen in the 2 years, "just" £2k growth, which equates to around 4.5%. I guess I was expecting more, even in these lean economic times. Should I just be grateful or when the stock markets gets back to pre-2008 levels, could/should I expect to see see a bigger rise?

[type-r]

Actually just 2.25% growth per year.

[type-r]

Thanks for the replies guys. Indeed I am trying to look at the long term and understand short term returns can fluctuate greatly but over the course of time, should come good (hopefully!).

I have diversified into following 3 funds for my personal pension (including one run by the pension company):

SL BlackRock UK Equity Tracker Pension Fund (~50%)
SL Jupiter Merlin Growth Portfolio Pension Fund (~25%)
Standard Life Deposit and Treasury Pension Fund (~25%)

I picked the above funds, without seeking advice from an IFA. I did some basic research, weighed up the risks and selected those.

[type-r]

I did transfer in at some point towards the end of last year from another private pension scheme, so I guess the overall figure of 2.25% is skewed because of that.

ETA: Just double checked online and I actually moved out of the Jupiter fund last year (which was 100%) and have split the share as follows:

SL BlackRock Aquila HP UK Equity Pension Fund 70.0%
Standard Life Managed Cash Pension Fund 30.0%

For some reason, it is showing the a summary of a 50/25/25 split across 3 which is what I stated above.

[type-r]

silverous said:

I'm confused about what you transferred in and out of and when - if the 40k wasn't in those funds for the last 2-3 years it is difficult to assess their performance over that time horizon ? Are you saying that 100% was in the Jupiter for most of it? 100% of 40k or you did a transfer in from elsewhere?

Ok - I understand it is slightly confusing without having all the info. In summary for the last 2 years:

In Feb 2013, I transferred in 17.5k. I have contributed in the last 2 years, 21k. Total 38.5k. Balance currently stands at 40.5k

I can't remember when I made the change but let's say at the start of this year, I went from 100% Jupiter to 70/30 split mentioned in my previous post.

Bottom line, in two years I have increased my personal pension from say around 20k to 40k from my own personal/company contributions but have only realised a 2k return in that time.

[type-r]

Thanks for the advice guys, really useful. Looks like I need to review my investments going forward. Is an IFA the best person to speak to? What are the best website(s) to review fund performance say over the last 5 years?

Edited by type-r on Thursday 30th October 12:45