A simpler, more supported alternative to Scottish Widows
Straightforward pension management with dedicated support.
Penfold combines payroll integrations, dedicated account management and practical employer tools with an intuitive pension experience for employees.
Whether you’re setting up a new scheme or considering a move from Scottish Widows, we’ll help make the process straightforward.
Updated August 2026, information reviewed quarterly
Compare Penfold and Scottish Widows
Scottish Widows offers extensive investment choice alongside many of the workplace pension essentials.
Penfold takes a more focused approach, combining a smaller range of funds with payroll integrations, dedicated support and tools that help employers understand pension engagement.
- Payroll made simpler
Penfold integrates with payroll software and includes payroll support, helping reduce manual work and make contributions easier to manage.
- A dedicated point of contact
You’ll have a dedicated account manager who knows your business and can help with onboarding, payroll and ongoing questions.
- Understand employee engagement
Our engagement dashboard, employee reminders and employer insights help you see how your team is interacting with their pension.
Looking beyond fund choice
Scottish Widows offers more funds than Penfold. But the number of investment options isn’t the only thing worth comparing.
Investment performance can make a meaningful difference to employees’ retirement savings over time.
Over the three years to 30th June 2026, Penfold’s default fund delivered an annualised gross return of 14.9%, compared with .13.5% for Scottish Widows’ default fund.
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.
Practical support throughout the pension journey
Scottish Widows and Penfold both offer sustainable and Sharia funds, pension consolidation, pension education and retirement forecasts.
Penfold adds one-to-one support, personalised guidance and practical prompts to help employees understand and stay connected with their pension.
- One-to-one support
Employees have access to pension education and one-to-one support sessions, giving them help when they want to understand their pension in more detail.
- Guidance that’s personal
Personalised guidance helps employees understand their pension and the options available to them.
- Helpful prompts along the way
Tax-saving prompts and savings nudges give employees practical reasons to check in with their retirement savings.
A focused approach to workplace pensions
Scottish Widows offers a broad range of investment options. Penfold focuses on making workplace pensions straightforward to manage and easier to engage with.
Employers get payroll integrations, dedicated support and greater visibility into employee engagement.
Employees get a focused range of investment options alongside practical tools and support to help them manage their pension.
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.
