The People's Pension fees and charges: a 0.5% management charge plus a £6.50 annual charge, less a savings reward once a pot passes £3,000.
Those are the scheme's own figures as archived in spring 2026; below is each part, when it is taken and what it comes to in pounds. Pots spread over several providers are easier to judge side by side; an FCA-authorised adviser will take that on when a short form on this page has been sent, and the enquiry costs you nothing. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than was paid in, so charges are only one part of what a pot ends up worth.
The two parts of every member's charge
The scheme calls its charge the annual management charge (AMC). Its page explaining the AMC, in the copy archived on 18 June 2026, lists two parts: "A 0.5% management charge on the value of your pension" and "A £6.50 annual charge".
| Part | Rate | How it is applied |
|---|---|---|
| Management charge | 0.5% of the pot a year | "through a reduction in the unit price of your funds" |
| Annual charge | £6.50 from 1 April 2026 | once a scheme year (see below) |
| Savings reward | 0.05% to 0.3% given back | extra units added to the pot |
In plain money the percentage is "50 pence a year for every £100 in your pension". The employer-facing charges page, archived on 16 May 2026, says the AMC "stays the same whether your employees are contributing or not, whatever fund they're contributing to, or how much is in their pension", and that for larger employers the scheme "may propose a management charge lower than 0.5%". Employers pay a one-off set-up fee of "£500 + VAT".
The £6.50 annual charge: when it is and is not taken
The flat charge went up on 1 April 2026. The Chair's governance statement for the year to 31 March 2025, reproduced on the charges and costs page archived on 18 April 2026, describes "An annual charge of £4.50 on members' pots of £104.50 and over, deducted during the Scheme year", and adds that "from 1 April 2026, this charge will increase to £6.50".
The scheme's pages word the pot-size test and the timing differently; here they are as written:
- the Chair's statement: deducted "from members' pots of £106.50 and over", "during the Scheme year";
- the AMC page: "taken at the end of the scheme year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March", and not taken "From pensions worth less than £106.50";
- the transfer page, archived on 17 May 2026: deducted "during the scheme year if we calculate that you'll have a pot size of £100 or more after the charge is taken".
The AMC page names two further cases where the charge is not taken: "From flexi-access drawdown accounts – only from your main pension savings", and "If you leave People's Pension before the annual charge is taken". For a pot near the threshold, the scheme can say which test it applies.
The savings reward, tier by tier
The reward is part of the management charge returned to your pot. The AMC page gives the tiers as:
- "Up to £3,000, there's no savings reward"
- "Over £3,000 and up to £10,000, we'll give back 0.05%"
- "Over £10,000 and up to £25,000, we'll give back 0.15%"
- "Over £25,000 and up to £50,000, we'll give back 0.25%"
- "Over £50,000, we'll give back 0.3%"
The starting point is put three ways: "for savings over £3,000" in the Chair's statement; "If you're saving more than £3,000 with us, we add a monthly savings reward" on the AMC page, which also says "As long as your balance stays above £3,000, you'll keep receiving a savings reward". The reward is paid "by buying more units in the funds you're invested in" and may show in your account as a "rebate". Money held in flexi-access drawdown counts towards it, but after a transfer in "you may not receive a savings reward on this money until the next rebate period".
None of these pages says whether a tier's rate applies to the whole pot or only to the slice inside that band. The table below is our arithmetic on one assumption, that the whole pot earns its tier's rate; if the reward is worked band by band, the totals for the two larger pots would be higher. It assumes a steady pot and the standard rates for a single year, and is not a projection.
| Example pot (whole-pot reading) | Net percentage | Management charge | Plus annual charge | Total a year | As a share of the pot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 (no reward) | 0.5% | £10.00 | £6.50 | £16.50 | 0.825% |
| £15,000 (0.15% back) | 0.35% | £52.50 | £6.50 | £59.00 | 0.39% |
| £60,000 (0.3% back) | 0.2% | £120.00 | £6.50 | £126.50 | 0.21% |
The flat £6.50 is 0.325% of the £2,000 example but 0.01% of the £60,000 one, so it weighs most on small pots. To have these numbers set beside your other pots, the form on this page brings in an FCA-authorised adviser at no charge to you.
Fund transaction costs
Every fund carries the same 0.5% management charge; what differs is transaction costs, the cost of buying, selling and lending assets inside a fund, which the transaction costs page (archived 18 April 2026) says "reduce the funds' net investment returns". They sit outside the AMC, which the Chair's statement describes as fund management charges and extra expenses "but excluding transaction costs". The statement gives these figures as averages over the five years to 31 March 2025.
| Fund | Management charge | Transaction costs |
|---|---|---|
| Global Investments (up to 85% shares) Fund (default profile) | 0.5% | 0.09% |
| Pre-Retirement Fund (default profile) | 0.5% | 0.05% |
| Global Investments (up to 60% shares) Fund | 0.5% | 0.06% |
| Global Investments (up to 100% shares) Fund | 0.5% | 0.07% |
| Ethical Fund | 0.5% | 0.01% |
| Annuity Fund | 0.5% | 0.01% |
| Shariah Fund | 0.5% | 0.02% |
| Cash Fund | 0.5% | 0.00% |
The default 'balanced' investment profile "is used by 98.44% of the membership"; it starts in the 85% shares fund, "before gradually switching into the Pre-Retirement Fund". More on each fund is in People's Pension funds.
What the Trustee says about the charge cap
Default-fund charge limits sit in regulation 6 of SI 2015/879 for occupational schemes and in COBS 19.6.6R for workplace personal pensions, as pension charges and fees explains. The People's Pension describes itself as "a trust-based defined contribution occupational pension scheme" and, on its transfer page, as "an authorised master trust", which on its own description puts it under regulation 6.
That regulation has separate limits where a percentage of the pot is paired with what regulation 5(3)(b) calls "a flat fee charge", a fixed sum "calculated by reference to a period of time". Regulation 6(4) caps the flat fee at "£25 annually" and reads the percentage limit from a table whose first row, a flat fee of £10 or less, carries 0.6% a year.
The Trustee's own assessment is in the Chair's statement for the year to 31 March 2025, when the annual charge was £4.50. It says the Scheme "can charge a maximum of £10.00 or less per year as a flat fee charge, as well as a maximum of 0.6% of funds under management", and that the Trustee "confirms that the Scheme's member annual management charge is comfortably within the Government charge cap for schemes with combination charges". That is the Trustee's view of that year, before the rise to £6.50. For other workplace schemes' charges, see workplace pension providers, Nest and Legal & General.
Transfers, withdrawals and a pot after death
The transfer page says the scheme makes no charge for moving money in or out, though "your other pension scheme might"; pension transfer fees covers the rules and how to transfer a pension the steps. The same page says it "cannot accept transfers from pension pots that you've previously taken money from, through an annuity or drawdown".
Two FAQs archived on 18 May 2026 cover taking money out: "No. We don't charge if you decide to access your pension", and, for drawdown, "We don't charge you for taking lump sums or regular income". How drawdown works is in pension drawdown. On death, the AMC page says "We'll keep applying the annual management charge until your beneficiaries claim your pension savings", with no savings reward "for the period in which the claim is paid".
The People's Pension charges: questions people ask
How much does The People's Pension charge?
A 0.5% management charge and a £6.50 annual charge, less a savings reward on pots over £3,000. If the whole pot earns its tier's reward, which the scheme does not confirm, that comes to £16.50 a year on a £2,000 pot and £126.50 on £60,000.
Does The People's Pension charge an exit fee?
Its pages say it does not charge for transferring in or out, or for accessing a pension. A scheme you move from may have charges of its own.
Can I get money back from The People's Pension?
The savings reward is the nearest thing: part of the management charge returned as extra units in your pot, not paid to you, once savings are over £3,000. The Chair's statement describes it as a reward "on the management charge".
Is there a set-up charge or a contribution charge?
The charge pages list the management charge and the annual charge for members, and the one-off set-up fee paid by the employer. They are not a list of every possible charge, so check your own documents.
Your next step
Your exact charges, savings reward included, are in your online account under "Manage my pension", then "Charges". Look for your reward tier, the £6.50 annual charge and any rate your employer agreed below 0.5%. With those figures to hand, a two-minute entry on the form on this page gets a call-back from an adviser firm that is FCA-authorised, and nothing is payable.
The FCA's pension scams page treats an unexpected call about your pension as illegal and probably a scam. For who runs the scheme, see what The People's Pension is; for rivals, The People's Pension compared.
Sources: The People's Pension (People's Partnership), archived copies of: Costs and charges for members, with the Chair's statement for the year to 31 March 2025 (18 April 2026); Transaction costs (18 April 2026); Employer and member pension charges (16 May 2026); Things to consider before you decide to transfer (17 May 2026); two member FAQs (18 May 2026); Understanding your annual management charge (18 June 2026); legislation.gov.uk, SI 2015/879 regulations 5 and 6; FCA, pension scams; all accessed 19 October 2026.