"The best performing pension could produce more than three times more pension income than the worst performing one. The really bad news is that your pension fund is more likely to be amongst the bad than the good" The Observer
There is nothing uniquely bad about the with profits fund of Britannic Assurance; simply, it is an example of the way many with profits funds from “door-to-door collecting companies” fell into demise with most other with profits life offices.
The rating of many of these collecting companies remains low (source: AKG actuaries and consulting) and appears likely to remain so for many years to come. Some, though, provide policyholders with reasonably encouraging financial prospects. So, how do you know whether your pension gives hope for encouragement or is dead in the water?