An alternative to now:pensions that gives you more
More support for your business. More tools for your employees.
Penfold combines dedicated support, payroll integrations and practical employer tools to make your workplace pension easier to manage.
Employees get more ways to understand, manage and engage with their retirement savings too.
Whether you’re setting up a new scheme or switching from NOW: Pensions, we’ll help make the process straightforward.
Compare Penfold and now:pensions
NOW: Pensions covers many of the workplace pension essentials, including salary sacrifice and compliance support.
Penfold adds dedicated account management, payroll integrations and practical tools that give employers more support and visibility.
- Dedicated support
You’ll have a dedicated account manager who knows your business and can help with onboarding, payroll and ongoing questions.
- Payroll that works with you
Penfold integrates with payroll software and includes payroll support, helping reduce manual work and make contributions easier to manage.
- More visibility for your business
Employee reminders, an engagement dashboard and employer insights help you understand how employees are interacting with their pension.
Comparing default fund performance
Investment performance can make a meaningful difference to employees’ retirement savings over time.
Over the five years to December 31st 2025, Penfold’s default fund delivered an annualised gross return of 9.3%, compared with 6.5% for NOW: Pensions.
Figures are net of investment fees but gross of provider fees. Past performance, actual or simulated, is also not a reliable indicator of future returns. All investments carry risk and your investment value can go up or down. Returns may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations.
Figures for the Penfold Plan are based on a simulation, provided by BlackRock, of how the portfolio might have performed had these building blocks of the plan existed together over the last five years. It’s important to note that it cannot be definitively said exactly how this plan would have performed in the past. Simulations should not be taken as a guarantee of expected past or future performance, but are designed to be illustrative only. A full list of the assumptions made to generate the simulations is available and should be carefully considered.
The figures shown represent a weighted average of performance across 30 age cohorts (ages 36-65) to provide an overall view of member outcomes. Individual returns will vary depending on fund allocation at different points in a member’s investment journey, as well as personal fee structures. For consistency in comparison, returns have been estimated based on a typical pot size of £10,000 and an average salary of £30,000. Actual returns may differ due to factors such as specific employer-negotiated fees, individual pot sizes, and salary levels.
Returns are based on data collected by investment advisors DWA from a variety of sources, including individual providers and data published on Morningstar. Where possible, actual return data has been used; however, some assumptions were made based on underlying fund data due to availability limitations. The impact of charges has been applied on a monthly basis, which may create minor discrepancies with actual experience depending on the charging structure. DWA is happy to review and correct any discrepancies should further evidence be provided.
More ways for employees to manage their pension
A workplace pension is easier to engage with when employees can understand their savings and have useful tools to plan ahead.
Penfold gives employees more fund choice and practical features to help them manage their pension throughout their retirement journey.
- More investment options
Penfold offers 11 funds, including sustainable and Sharia options. NOW: Pensions offers two funds according to our latest comparison.
- Bring pensions together
Employees can combine old pensions with Penfold, making it easier to see and manage their retirement savings in one place.
- More help to plan ahead
Pension education, personalised guidance, tax-saving prompts, savings nudges and retirement forecasts help employees understand their savings and think about their financial future.
More from your workplace pension
Penfold gives employers more than the tools needed to run a workplace pension.
You get dedicated support, payroll integrations and greater visibility into employee engagement.
Employees get more investment choice and practical tools to understand and manage their retirement savings.
Penfold's user-friendly approach and transparency revolutionised how we manage pensions for our clients. Penfold has come in and changed the space, showing that we could have a pension that was user friendly as well. It's really adding value to not only the employers themselves but the employees of those employers. The app is the big selling point with Penfold, having a nice clean UI that’s easy to understand for people because the vast majority of people aren’t pension literate.
