Two-thirds (66 per cent) of pension savers are unaware of where or how their contributions are invested, a Teamspirit survey has revealed.

Around 30 per cent said they had “no clue” where their money goes, 22 per cent knew it was invested but didn’t know where, while 12 per cent believed their provider sets the money aside and its left untouched until they access it.

Approximately 34 per cent of respondents knew that their pension was invested in the stock market and other assets.

Amongst Millennials (18 to 34-year olds) 24 per cent had “no clue” where their contributions were invested, while 27 per cent thought it was left untouched by their provider.

Under a quarter (24 per cent) of Millennials knew where their savings were invested.

“The fact that so few people understand what their pension gets up to - in other words that it is invested in the stock market - points to a huge, gaping knowledge gap,” commented Teamspirit managing director, Adam Smith.

“This needs attention. How can we expect people to check, monitor and engage with their pensions when so many don’t even know it can be checked and monitored?”

Teamspirit’s research also found that nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of pension savers had made no changes to their pension in light of Covid-19.

Those aged 35-54 the most likely to suffer from inertia, with 77 per cent of respondents in this age cohort not making any changes.

Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) said they did not know where to begin if they wanted to make a change and 15 per cent did not realise they could.

Smith continued: “Unfortunately, this low awareness is widespread across all age groups which means that we need to adopt more creative communication tactics to grab the attention of different audiences.

“A letter or email that lands in a pension holders inbox is only part of the solution. Communication and even general pension education need to be promoted on various channels.

“This means more content on social channels, more video, more games, more animation, more influencers. And dare I say it, it needs to be more entertaining.”

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