Top Pension Startups and Providers in the UK

Hiring a new employee can be exciting but this comes with a lot of responsibilities including choosing a pension scheme for them. Workplace pension helps employees save for retirement. There are several pension companies in the UK and choosing a pension provider for your business can be challenging. It is a major decision that has a significant effect on your company.

  • The pensions Act 2008 mandates every employer to enroll their employees who are of pension age into a pension scheme. The decision takes into account factors like costs, compatibility and accessibility.
  • The Pension industry has grown over the past years following the pension reform – Ibisworld.
  • The value in 2020 is $3.59 trillion.- Statista

There are several pension providers in the UK and choosing from these outstanding pension providers can be a tough decision. If you are looking for a pension provider that is easy to set up without upfront costs, we will give you the information you need to guide you towards selecting the best pension provider in the UK.

Below are 5 best pension providers  in the UK.

Aviva

Aviva pension

Aviva is a UK pension company with its headquarter in London. It is one of the best performing pension companies with over 15 million customers across UK and was founded in 2000 by a merger of Norwich Union and CGU plc (two British insurance firms). It has about 31,000 employees and successfully raised revenue of £46,569 billion in 2021. Aviva provides people with access to insurance options that covers their responsibilities including pensions, auto enrolment and workplace insurance. No set up fee is required and the set up takes ten minutes. Aviva offers 200 investment fund alternatives and the staff has access to online management dashboard for free. Aviva is accessible to any business size. 

NOW: Pensions

NOW Pensions UK

NOW: Pensions is one of the best pension provider for small businesses. It was founded by Danish pensions fund ATP in 2011. It is a privately held company with 1.7 million employees. NOW: Pensions was acquired from ATP in 2019 by the Cardano Group. It is an award-winning pension provider for workplaces and has helped thousands of employers secure pensions for their employees. NOW: Pensions has about 101-250 employees.

The set-up for this pension is simple and they offer excellent support and quick online access to clients. It is a master trust that has an independent board of trustees who are responsible for making decisions on how investment of pensions and other administrative aspects of the business. Although the board of trustees make the decisions on investment of the pension, the employer can also make decisions on the investment, contributions and benefits. 

Nest

Nest pension company

Nest a government pension (National Employment Savings Trust)  set up to make auto enrolment pensions easy.

It is one of the best auto enrolment pension provider. It is a straight forward option set up for auto enrolment and it was set up based on the recommendations of the Second Report of the Pensions Commission.

This pension is free for employers but members are required to pay a charge of 1.8% on contributions and 0.3% as annual management charge. The current chair is Otto Thoresen while the CEO is Helen Dean.

Smart Pension

Smart pensions uk

This UK pension company offers small businesses auto enrolment pension without them making any upfront payment. This makes it easy for small businesses with little fundings. Smart Pension was founded by Andrew Evans in 2014 with its headquarters in London. They have about 251-500 employees. They do not charge a lot of fees compared to others and there are no set up fees required for standard service. However, ongoing charges are only applicable to some membership types. You are also free to leave without having to pay any fee. It is easy and quick to set up.

There is a smart pension workforce assessment tool that can help assess your staff with less hassles. Funds from Smart Pension are used in investments with reduced risks and the employees have a track record of managing funds successfully. 

The Lewis Workplace Pension Trust

The Lewis Workplace Pension Trust_

This pension provider was established in 2013 to assist employers with little or no experience of pension overcome the hassles associated with setting up pension for their employees. They ensure a smooth transition for new employees who need to be enrolled into the pension scheme.

The Lewis Workplace Pension Trust has one board of trustee who make decisions independent of each division in the company. They make decisions on things like service providers and investments funds while employers make decisions on contribution level and benefits. They offer the following investment packages: Auto enrolment default portfolio, Auto enrolment cautious portfolio, Auto enrolment moderate portfolio, Auto enrolment speculative portfolio, Auto enrolment responsible investment portfolio and auto enrolment sharia portfolio.

Each package has its own unique features you should consider before making a choice. .