To change your Royal London pension fund, log in to Royal London's online service and pick new investments, or send its paper change of investment form.
Which funds you can move into depends on the plan you hold. For a free call-back about your Royal London choices from an FCA-authorised adviser, send the form on this page.
How to change your Royal London pension investments
Royal London's investment pages say that, with a pension or a Stocks and Shares ISA, "you can change your investments at any time through our online service". Its investment options guide adds that you can do it "with just a few clicks by logging in to your Royal London account", though you "should always consider the impact of making any changes". So the usual route is to register for or log in to the online service from Royal London's manage-your-pension page, open your plan and choose the new fund or portfolio.
If you would rather not use the online service, Royal London has a Change of Investment application form (print code 32A28/21). It says you or your adviser can use the online service, "if you/they have the required permissions", and otherwise complete the form. The form lists the plans it covers: Pension Portfolio personal pensions, the core of a SIPP and Income Release plans; Individual Pension Plans including stakeholder plans; and Retirement Solutions plans, which include group personal pensions and company pensions.
For the other routes into a new pension, see how to transfer your pension; switching funds inside the same plan is a different step and does not move the plan to another provider.
What the paper form asks you to fill in
The form has three sections: your personal information, your new investment choice and a declaration. You tick one option, and the form then points you to the matching part:
- change or invest in a Governed Portfolio or Governed Retirement Income Portfolio (the income portfolios only on Pension Portfolio and Pension Portfolio with Income Release plans);
- redirect future contributions and leave existing funds unchanged;
- redirect future contributions and change existing funds;
- change existing funds only;
- change or invest in an Investment Pathway (Income Release only); or
- change or invest in a lifestyle strategy.
Governed Portfolios and lifestyle strategies are not offered on new Individual Stakeholder Pension Plans; if you hold an existing one, the form asks you to check your options with Royal London's customer service team.
When you change existing funds, you write down each fund you are leaving and the percentage of that holding to move, then each fund you are moving into and what share of the proceeds it should get. If you also redirect future contributions, that table must add up to 100%. The form has room for six funds each way; more go on a separate sheet that is signed and dated. Your adviser can sign for you if you have one, though Royal London "reserves the right to request a letter of instruction" from you.
By signing, the form says you confirm you have read the factsheets for your chosen investments and accept that "additional fund management charges may apply to the investments I have selected and this won’t be subject to any charge cap that may otherwise apply to my investments". The Royal London pension charges page sets out what those extra charges look like.
How to change your Royal London pension risk
To change the risk you take, you move to a different portfolio, strategy or fund. If you are unsure of your attitude to risk, its guide points to a risk profiler where you "answer 12 simple questions", and says an adviser can also help you weigh how much risk you can afford to take.
The ready-made choices in its Governed Range are:
- seven Governed Portfolios, from Defensive to Total Equity, for building your pot before retirement;
- five Governed Retirement Income Portfolios, designed to support a regular income while the rest stays invested;
- lifestyle strategies, which automatically move your money from higher-risk to lower-risk investments as retirement approaches, aiming at an annuity, drawdown or cash.
The alternative is to pick from the full fund range, which the guide says has more than 170 funds and needs "a lot of time and a fair amount of investment knowledge". On the form, "You cannot invest in more than one portfolio or lifestyle strategy at the same time." Income Release customers can also choose one of four investment pathways, each matched to how you plan to use the money. Its pathways page says "you can make changes to your investments at any time", including moving to another pathway. If you are weighing income against a guaranteed annuity, pension drawdown and pension annuities explain the two routes.
What to check before you switch
The form warns that "all our investment options may not be available depending upon how your plan has been set up", and that Royal London recommends you "take financial advice before changing your investment choice, as selecting unsuitable investments may significantly reduce the value of your pension savings". Investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you paid in.
- With Profits. The form says a market value reduction "may be applied for switches out of the Royal London With Profits Fund", and that With Profits cannot be rebalanced. Royal London's site says With Profits is available to pension customers but not Income Release.
- Workplace default. In a notice dated October 2026, Royal London says it is changing its default investment from the Balanced Lifestyle Strategy (Drawdown) to the Governed Workplace Default, and that it is writing to affected customers. If your funds sit in a default, check which name appears online before you act.
- Future payments. Changing existing funds and redirecting new contributions are separate choices on the form, so decide both.
Whether a switch carries any cost on your own plan, an adviser can tell you without charge after you send the form.
Changing Royal London pension funds: common questions
Do I need an adviser to switch funds?
No. The online service and the paper form are both open to the planholder. A financial adviser can also sign the form for you, giving their FCA reference and Royal London agency numbers, and Royal London may then ask for your written authority.
Can I change only where my future contributions go?
Yes, the form has that option and leaves existing funds unchanged. Which option fits an employer's scheme may depend on its rules, so ask the scheme or Royal London.
Where can I see fund prices before I choose?
Royal London says you can view fund prices and download factsheets and monthly performance updates for its investment options.
Is a Royal London pension good value overall?
That depends on your plan, charges and funds together; is a Royal London pension good covers it, and Royal London pension plans explains which plan you may hold.
Torn between a ready-made portfolio and choosing funds yourself? Raise that dilemma using the form on this page: your Royal London pot can be weighed both ways with you, by phone and free, by an FCA-authorised adviser.
Sources, read 27 October 2026: Royal London's choosing your investments, investment pathways, fund changes and manage-your-pension pages; the Change of Investment application form (32A28/21); and the Your investment options guide (August 2025, BR5P10004/9).