Pension Consolidation Platforms UK: PensionBee, Penfold, Moneybox and SIPP Options Compared

Once you have checked whether your old pension is a legacy product and decided consolidation makes sense for your situation, the practical choice is which type of platform to use. UK pension consolidation options split broadly into two categories: managed personal pension apps that do the tracing and transfer work for you, and self-invested personal pension (SIPP) platforms that give you more control and typically lower fees in exchange for more hands-on management.

Managed personal pension apps

PensionBee, Penfold and Moneybox are the most widely used app-based personal pension providers in the UK. All three are FCA-authorised and let you open, fund, and track a pension from a phone, and all three offer a pension tracing and consolidation service: you provide details of previous employers or old providers, and the platform contacts them and arranges the transfer on your behalf.

PensionBee charges an annual management fee between 0.50% and 0.95% depending on the plan selected, halved on the portion of a pot above £100,000, with no separate entry or exit fees. Penfold, aimed specifically at self-employed savers, charges 0.75% (0.88% on its Sharia-compliant plan), reducing to 0.40% (0.53% Sharia) above £100,000, and invests through a small range of passively managed exchange-traded funds. Moneybox combines pension consolidation with a round-up feature that sweeps spare change from card purchases into savings, and sits alongside its other savings and investment products rather than being a pensions-only platform.

Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) platforms

AJ Bell, Vanguard, interactive investor and Hargreaves Lansdown operate as SIPP platforms. Fees are generally lower than a fully managed app, often starting from around 0.25% platform fee plus underlying fund costs, but the customer chooses their own investments from a much wider range of shares, funds, ETFs and investment trusts rather than picking from a handful of curated plans. These platforms can assist with a pension transfer, but the process is more customer-led than the tracing service offered by the managed apps.

Vanguard's SIPP is built around Vanguard's own range of low-cost index funds and suits savers who want passive, cost-focused investing without wanting broader fund choice. AJ Bell and interactive investor offer a wider range of investment options including individual shares, suiting savers who want to manage their portfolio more actively.

What "free tracing and consolidation" actually means

When PensionBee, Penfold or Moneybox describe their consolidation service as free, this refers to the tracing and transfer administration itself: you are not charged a separate fee for the platform contacting your old providers and arranging the transfers. You do still pay the platform's ongoing annual management fee on the combined pot once it is consolidated, which is where these platforms make their money. This is a different model to a SIPP platform, where you typically pay a smaller platform fee but do more of the tracing legwork yourself, often using the free government pension tracing service directly.

Other platforms worth knowing about

Beyond the six covered above, Nutmeg operates as a robo-advisor style pension option, building and managing a portfolio automatically based on a risk profile you select, which suits savers who want a managed approach without picking individual funds themselves. iSIPP is a lower-cost self-invested option aimed at confident investors who want to consolidate multiple pots into one account while keeping full control over fund and share selection, sitting between the fully managed apps and the larger established SIPP platforms on both cost and complexity.

A worked comparison

To make the fee difference concrete: on a consolidated pension pot of £50,000, a 0.75% annual fee (Penfold's standard rate) costs £375 a year, while a 0.25% SIPP platform fee (broadly where AJ Bell's lower tier sits) costs £125 a year, before either platform's underlying fund costs are added on top. The managed apps are not simply worse value for this difference: the extra cost reflects the tracing, transfer administration, and curated fund selection the platform does on your behalf. Whether that is worth roughly £250 a year depends entirely on how many old pensions you are trying to track down and how confident you feel choosing your own investments without that help.

Checking any provider before you transfer

Every firm listed here is FCA-authorised, but authorisation status can change and new firms enter the market regularly, so verify current status directly at register.fca.org.uk before transferring anything rather than relying on a platform's own claims. If your old pension is a defined benefit scheme worth £30,000 or more, you are legally required to take regulated financial advice before any transfer can proceed, regardless of which platform you are considering moving to.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a managed pension app and a SIPP?

A managed app such as PensionBee or Penfold picks investments for you from a small curated range and typically handles pension tracing and transfer on your behalf. A SIPP such as AJ Bell or Vanguard gives you a much wider investment choice but requires more hands-on management.

Which platforms handle finding and transferring old pensions for me?

PensionBee, Penfold and Moneybox all offer a tracing and consolidation service where you provide details of old providers and the platform arranges the transfer.

Are these platforms FCA-authorised?

Yes, all platforms listed here are FCA-authorised, but always verify current status at register.fca.org.uk before transferring, since this can change.

Do I need advice to transfer into any of these platforms?

Not for a standard defined contribution transfer. Advice is legally required for defined benefit transfers worth £30,000 or more, regardless of which platform you are moving to.