Standard Life Recovers £50m in lost Pensions via Raindrop

Standard Life, a UK retirement and long-term savings provider, has recovered £50m (US$64.6m) in lost pension savings for customers through its partnership with pension-finding platform Raindrop.

The pension tracing tool, launched five months ago, has enabled 2,900 Standard Life customers to locate 3,000 previously lost pension pots using Raindrop's technology.

This recovery represents a fraction of the estimated £31.1bn (US$40.2bn) in lost pension savings across the UK, according to recent research from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).

Rising pension fragmentation

The issue of misplaced pension savings continues to grow as workforce mobility increases. With the average Briton likely to work for at least 11 different employers during their career, pension fragmentation has become a structural problem in the UK retirement market.

According to Standard Life's research, 81% of working-age adults report uncertainty regarding the location of all their pension pots. Furthermore, 19% express concern about insufficient retirement savings.

This fragmentation occurs when employees change jobs or relocate without updating their pension provider's records, resulting in lost connections to retirement assets.

Consolidation barriers

Despite the potential benefits of pension consolidation - including administrative efficiency, performance tracking and potential fee reduction - 73% of people with multiple pensions have not consolidated their retirement savings.

Standard Life research indicates that 32% of pension holders do not know how to initiate the consolidation process.

To address this knowledge gap, Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, partnered with Raindrop, a financial technology company specialising in pension-finding solutions.

The partnership leverages Raindrop's technology to locate and, where appropriate, consolidate pension pots in as little as two days. 

This process provides customers with a clearer understanding of their projected retirement income.

Raindrop's technology has located over £500m (US$646m) in lost pension savings across almost 45,000 pots since its launch.

Digital solution for pension tracing

The pension-finding tool operates by connecting with banks, pension providers and financial advisers to locate lost retirement savings.

For Standard Life customers, the technology offers a streamlined alternative to traditional manual pension tracing methods, which can be time-consuming and complex.

Dean Butler, Managing Director for Retail Direct at Standard Life, says: “Losing track of your pension savings can happen unintentionally, particularly if you change jobs and move to an employer with a different pension provider. 

“The good news is that finding them again doesn't have to be difficult – the success of our partnership with Raindrop shows how technology can simplify the process, quickly helping people to reconnect with their hard-earned savings.”

Butler adds that digital innovation through this partnership gives people a “clearer view of their potential retirement income and greater confidence in their financial future”.

Vivan Shridharani, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Raindrop, says: “This is just the tip of the iceberg - millions of UK savers have lost track of pension pots and need support taking control of their retirement savings.

“The fact that our tool has tracked down £50m (US$64.4m) in lost pension savings in just a few months demonstrates the appetite for a simple pension-finding solution – there are billions still sitting in lost pots waiting to be reunited with savers to enable them to plan for a better financial future.”

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