This page contains information for Tailored Plan customers born between 1966 - 1971. It accompanies an email related to their future switch to the 4Plus Plan in July 2025.
Other vintages of the Tailored Plan will be notified of their switch timeline by email in the coming weeks and months, please see our FAQ below on staged rollout dates.
Why are you updating the Tailored Plan?
As part of our mission to build pension confidence, we regularly review our plans to ensure that their objectives continue to align with changing customer needs and expectations, as well as the regulatory landscape.
Over the past few years we’ve listened to what our customers have said about the Tailored Plan, focusing on the experiences of different age groups. Customers told us they found the fixed de-risking approach to the Tailored Plan to be too rigid. Specifically, younger customers didn’t want to be moved away from higher-risk investments from the age of 35. Some older customers told us that a fixed retirement age of 65 wasn’t right for their situation either. Many of these customers still wanted growth opportunities in their later years, but with some element of protection to market volatility.
A key part of our decision making was that older customers said they’d prefer a plan that better responds to the unexpected events occurring in the financial system. For example, proactively moving money to lower-risk assets in times of great market volatility.
Years of customer feedback has offered us valuable insights into how they use and feel about the Tailored Plan. As a direct response to this feedback, we’ve decided to offer different default plans for our younger (under age 50) and older (age 50 and above) customers. Our new offering of two default plans has been designed to better suit customers expectations and reflect their views in a changing world.
Why did you select the 4Plus Plan as an alternative for customers over 50?
We’ve offered the 4Plus Plan since 2018, as one of our Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Investment Pathways. We’ve observed the way this plan has responded to different market cycles and events since 2018, and believe that its actively managed approach brings additional certainty for those nearing or in their retirement phase.
The plan is managed by State Street Global Advisors, one of the largest money managers in the world. At its core, the 4Plus Plan aims to strike a balance between growth and stability for savers over 50 years old.
This balance is achieved through a target return objective of 4% above cash over the long term (greater than five years), allowing for more predictable drawdown planning. A key feature of the 4Plus Plan is its responsive asset allocation strategy, designed with the aim of protecting your savings during turbulent times.The team of money managers behind the plan meet weekly to make necessary and tactical adjustments based on changing market conditions.
The long-term asset allocation is reviewed annually to ensure it remains relevant, but strategic adjustments are also made on a monthly basis. This dynamic management, combined with the target return objective, provides a powerful tool for navigating market volatility.
What are my options if I don’t want to be switched to the 4Plus Plan?
If you think the 4Plus Plan isn’t the right plan for you, you might want to consider switching to one of our other plans.
For example, our Tracker Plan could be suitable for anyone looking for a cost effective way to invest in global shares and bonds. This plan offers both growth and diversification, following the world’s markets as they move. The annual fee for the Tracker Plan is 0.50%.
You can switch to any PensionBee plan of your choice. To switch, log into your BeeHive (your online account) and select ‘Account’ and then ‘Switch plans’. With PensionBee you can switch to any new plan of your choice at any time, just note that the switch will take around 12 working days to complete.
If you don’t actively request a plan switch to another plan, you’ll be automatically switched into the 4Plus Plan in July 2025.
How does the 4Plus Plan differ from the Tailored Plan?
There are two key differences between the plans:
investment strategy; and
risk management.
The 4Plus Plan is an actively managed plan. This means money managers are adjusting your investments in response to any market movements or volatility. The plan offers an active and dynamic approach to managing your retirement savings. While the Tailored Plan provides a passive strategy based on your target retirement date.
This active component requires more research, analysis, and trading, which leads to a higher management fee. The 4Plus Plan also has a target return objective of 4% above cash over the long term (greater than five years).
The Tailored Plan is a target date fund, using a ‘glidepath’ approach, which is passively managed. This means the mix of investments are automatically adjusted over time, becoming more conservative as you approach your target retirement date, which is fixed. This means that the money managers don’t have discretion to change the asset allocation or investment strategy during turbulent market conditions.
How will performance compare for the 4Plus Plan?
Past performance shouldn’t be used as an indicator of future performance. However, we do have historical performance data that can be used to guide our understanding of how the 4Plus Plan performs in times of extreme market crisis. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic or the UK’s 2022 Mini-Budget crisis.
Please see the Morningstar pages for performance data for the 4Plus Plan and Tailored Plan 2031 - 2033.
How do the fees compare for the 4Plus Plan?
At PensionBee, we only charge one simple annual fee. The 4Plus Plan annual fee is 0.85% (Tailored Plan: 0.70%).
Additionally, if you have more than £100,000 in your pension pot, your fee will be halved on the portion above £100,000.
Please note the 4Plus Plan is actively managed. This means the portfolio is being frequently adjusted by a team of experts, based on changing market conditions. You can read more about the 4Plus Plan’s approach to volatility management.
You can also see our other plan options and their fees on our dedicated ‘Plans’ page.
Can I switch plans earlier if I want to?
Yes, you can switch to another PensionBee plan, including the 4Plus Plan, at any point before July 2025.
You can view all PensionBee Plans on our plans page and you can request a plan switch in your BeeHive. Please be aware that from early July we need to prepare for switching by freezing activity in or out of the fund.
What if I want to withdraw funds at this time?
We understand the importance of withdrawals to your financial planning and want to ensure you’re properly informed of these upcoming changes.
Once the switch begins, your BeeHive balance will be frozen until it completes. We estimate this will take around three weeks. This means that you won’t be able to make any withdrawals, and any regular withdrawals you have scheduled won’t be processed during this time.
If you anticipate needing a withdrawal in the period of the fund switch, we recommend that you make any necessary arrangements as soon as possible, before the switch begins. This could mean increasing the size of your withdrawal in the month before the switch.
We’ll send a dedicated email on withdrawals in the coming weeks. We’ll also share more information and the deadline to make any changes to your withdrawal if you have regular withdrawals set up on your account.
Please note that if withdrawal requests are made before 12pm on a working day, we’ll aim to make a trade request on the same day. Requests made after 12pm may be processed the following working day. As long as there are no issues verifying your bank details, it should take around 12 working days for you to receive your money.
Can I continue to make contributions?
All your regular and ad hoc contributions will continue to be paid into your Tailored Plan until your switch begins. Once the switch begins, your BeeHive balance will be frozen until it completes.
If you have a regular contribution set up, your funds will still be collected during this period and will be invested in your new plan once the switch is complete.
Will the value of my pension be impacted?
During the time of the switch, your balance will appear frozen and the graph on the ‘Analytics’ tab in your BeeHive will indicate a straight line. We’re working to minimise out of market exposure during the time of the switch and will update customers on this. Please check this page for regular updates.
During the switch your pension will be subject to some market movements, and its value may go down as well as up while the switch is in progress. Any changes in your pension’s value that occur during this period will be reflected in your balance once the switch has been completed.
What are the costs of switching?
We have a commitment from BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors to minimise any costs associated with moving funds. By staging the rollout of the switches, we can also keep a sharp focus moving funds in the most efficient way.
There are always small subscription and redemption costs associated with fund switches. This is both the case if you decide to switch earlier or we move the funds for you. These small costs are an unavoidable feature of the market when moving money between different funds. PensionBee doesn’t profit from the transaction costs associated with switches.
Currently, the estimated cost of this transfer will be around 0.11%, although it may be lower on the day. This means the cost for a pension pot size of £20K would be £22.
What if the stock market is volatile, will you still switch me?
We’re working closely with BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors to optimise the switching process for customers. If any extreme market turbulence occurs in the run up to the fund switch date, we’d review the switch timeline and notify customers of any changes.
Why are you staging the rollout?
We’re switching customers in stages to minimise out of market risk.
We’ll be moving customers vintage by vintage throughout 2025. Although customers can switch to the 4Plus, Global Leaders - or any other PensionBee plan - earlier should they wish.
Our staged rollout approach aims to promote good outcomes for all our customers in the Tailored Plan. We’ll be contacting customers in groups in the coming weeks and months to share the timeline for their vintage.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
