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Stakeholder Pension

The Stakeholder Pension offers tax-efficient and flexible investment options. It includes the Prudential Stakeholder Pension Scheme, Premier Stakeholder Pension and Premier Group Stakeholder Pension.

How your company pension plan works

It's designed to provide a tax-efficient way of helping you build up a pension pot to provide for your retirement.

  • Payments might be made into your plan by you, your employer, or both.
  • You get tax relief on your payments, subject to certain limits.

  • Your money will be invested in funds managed by professional fund managers who aim to achieve the best possible returns.
  • Any growth in your plan will be largely tax-free.
  • A charge is taken for managing your plan.
  • Details of your fund choices and charges can be found in your annual statement. If you don’t have your annual statement or you’ve lost it, you can request a new one – just call us.

  • In most cases, when you take your benefits, you can take up to 25% of your plan tax-free, with the remainder taxable.
  • Once you take tax-free cash from your pension, it can't be cancelled or reversed.
  • You might need to pay tax depending on your circumstances and the options you choose
  • Tax rules can change in the future, so you may want to seek advice.

You'll be able to nominate a beneficiary by completing and sending us the beneficiary nomination form. To get a copy of the relevant form, please contact us.

Manging your plan

We can help, whether you're looking to

  • top-up your pension
  • pause or stop your contributions
  • change your contribution amount
  • transfer-in: move pensions held with other providers into this one
  • transfer-out: for example, if you leave or change employer
  • change (switch) the funds you’re invested in.


If you have Waiver of Premium and are unable to work due to illness or accident, you may be able to apply for your payments to be made on your behalf. Please call us so we can discuss this in more detail.

Before making any changes to your plan
  • Please make sure you understand your options and how they might affect your plan. Because once you've told us what you'd like to do, it may not be possible to change your mind.
  • We recommend you get financial advice. See ‘Getting financial advice’ for more information about this.
  • Understand that pension transfers are complex and getting it wrong could significantly affect your benefits. You should seek financial advice.
  • Remember, the value of your investment can go down as well as up, so you might not get back the amount you put in.

Manage your plan online

The quickest and easiest way to access information about your Prudential product, manage it, or to make changes to certain personal information, is through our Online Service. Registering is quick and easy..

Register for our Online Service

Already registered? Access your product details, update your information and message us directly using our Online Service

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Understanding your options

Your options will vary depending on your plan and any choices you’ve made so far. We can explain these in detail if you speak to your HR department or call us.

 

Depending on your plan rules, you may be able to:

  • Switch funds – Move some or all of your money into different investment funds.
  • Direct future payments – Redirect future contributions to other funds.
  • Change contributions – Vary your regular payments or make additional single payments.
  • Take a payment break – Stop payments temporarily.
  • Make your plan paid-up – Stop payments permanently.
  • Combine pension plans – If you have several plans, consider consolidating them into one. Discuss this with a financial adviser.
  • Take your benefits – If you’re over age 55 (57 from April 2028 unless you have a protected retirement age), you may be able to access your benefits.

 

If you leave or change employer, you may be able to

  • Join your new employer’s pension plan – Speak to your new employer about options.
  • Continue paying into your existing plan – You won’t benefit from employer’s payments, but you may still get tax relief on your payments, and you’ll maintain the benefits you already have.
  • Transfer your existing plan – Move your existing plan to your new employer’s scheme or another registered pension scheme.

Things to consider

  • You might need to pay tax depending on your circumstances and the options you choose.
  • Tax rules can also change in the future. You may want to seek advice.
  • Once you take tax-free cash from your pension, it can't be cancelled or reversed.

There’s no guarantee that one investment will perform any better than another. So in making your decision, you should consider the following.

Your personal investment profile

Fund-specific considerations

  • Switching out of the With-Profits Fund could result in a Market Value Reduction (MVR) reducing the amount switched out.
  • Charges may differ between funds.
  • You may lose any guarantees, benefits and options on your existing investments.
  • If you’re invested in - or have access to - a Lifestyle option, you should think about how and when you plan to take your benefits. This option automatically moves your investment into less risky funds, as you get closer to taking your benefits. If you’d like to know more, just give us a call. 
  • If you’re invested in a combination of With-Profits and a Lifestyle option, please get in touch before making any decisions about switching.

Timing and processing

  • In some circumstances your switch instruction could be delayed. We’ll let you know if this applies.
  • Any changes you make will be applied to all future payments unless you tell us you want to change your choice again.

Funds and plan information

  • You won’t be charged for changes to funds.
  • To see the charges that apply to your plan – check your annual statement online and the Fund Guide
  • The funds you’re invested in - Check your annual statement online.
  • The range of funds available – see your Fund Guide.

Before making changes to your payments, keep the following in mind:

  • Impact on benefits – Varying your payments will affect the amount available when you take your benefits.
  • Employer contributions – If your employer also makes payments, these might be affected. Speak to your employer for guidance.
  • Charges – Charges applied to your plan may change.
  • State or salary-related benefits – Changes could impact benefits you may be entitled to.
  • Tax relief – The amount of tax relief depends on what you pay. Reducing payments may mean losing out on tax relief.
  • Tax allowances – You could exceed your annual or lump sum allowance, resulting in a tax charge.
  • Additional benefits – Life cover or other benefits could be affected.
  • Restrictions – Depending on your plan and proximity to retirement, it may not be possible to increase payments to the With-Profits Fund.
  • Monitoring your plan – Keep track of your plan through your Annual Benefit Statement (ABS).

Your plan will continue to be invested in the funds you’ve chosen, unless you choose to change them. There are a few things you should think about before you make any decisions:

  • Impact on benefits – Any guarantees, benefits and options with your existing plan will change and affect the benefits you receive.
  • Reduced fund value –  Stopping your payments could mean the amount available when you take your benefits may be lower than expected.
  • Additional benefits – If you stop making payments, any additional benefits like life cover could be reduced or cancelled.
  • Ongoing charges – If you leave your plan where it is, charges for managing it will continue until you take your benefits or transfer elsewhere.

Transferring-in

  • You may be able to transfer pensions from other providers into this pension.
  • Please speak to your pension provider(s) before you do this.
  • You may lose important guarantees and benefits, and there may also be additional charges that will apply.

Transferring-out 

Before transferring your pension plan to another provider, it’s important to understand the potential impact.

  • Loss of benefits – Any guarantees, benefits and options under your existing plan may be lost, which could affect the benefits you receive.
  • Employer contributions – You may lose out on future employer contributions.
  • Different features – The features and investment options of another plan may differ. Consider whether they meet your needs.
  • Charges – Charges may be higher or lower than those you pay now.
  • Performance – There’s no guarantee another plan will perform better than your current plan.
  • With-Profits Fund – Transferring out could result in a Market Value Reduction and loss of future bonuses.
  • Transfer delays – Transfers can take time, which may lead to a temporary loss of investment growth while your money is not invested.
  • Exit charges – There may be an exit charge for leaving your plan.
  • Irreversible decision – You may not be able to change your mind once the transfer is complete.
  • Investment risk – The value of investments can go down as well as up, so you might not get back the amount you put in.
  • Transfer value – The transfer value of your plan may not be the same as its current value. Ask us for a transfer value before making your decision.

Before you decide to stop making payments, consider:

  • Reduced benefits – The amount available to provide benefits will be lower than expected.
  • Loss of additional benefits – You will lose any extra benefits, such as life cover or Waiver of Premium.
  • Restarting payments – You may not be able to restart payments once they stop.
  • Charges – There may be changes to charges or additional charges. Existing charges for managing your plan will continue until you take your benefits or transfer elsewhere.
  • Employer contributions – If your employer also makes payments, these will stop. Speak to your employer for guidance.
  • Impact on other benefits – There could be an effect on any state or salary-related benefits you may be entitled to.
  • Future decisions – You may need to decide what to do with your plan. For example, it may need to be transferred if you stop payments permanently.
  • Investment continuity – Your plan will remain invested in your chosen funds, and you can still change where it’s invested.

Getting financial advice

If you’re making an important financial decision, or thinking about your longer term financial health, then we recommend you get financial advice. 

  • You should speak to your financial adviser if you have one.
  • If you don’t have an adviser, you can search for an independent financial adviser by visiting unbiased.co.uk or by calling them on 0800 023 6868.
  • You could speak to M&G Advice. Whether it's about financial planning, accessing your pension, making sure you get the most from your tax allowances or protecting your loved ones; whatever your financial goals – we can help.

Next steps

To make changes to your plan, or discuss your options, contact us or your HR department.

We may record your call for training and quality purposes. To learn how we use your personal data, visit the My Data page.