Savers who move jobs throughout their career are at risk of completely losing their contributions due to high management fees and not allocating their assets correctly.

Nearly half (42%) of the 1,000 respondents told Netwealth that between two and five of their plans were effectively ‘stranded’.

The study comes as Pension Awareness Week kicks off and City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau revealed scams are hampering workers’ savings by an average of £16,500 each.

Vital to track down ‘stranded’ pensions

Charlotte Ransom, founder of Netwealth, said: “It is understandable that in the current climate of market volatility and the cost-of-living crisis, there is a growing fear among investors that their savings won’t go far enough in later life, especially with average lifetimes extending, requiring more substantial retirement savings.

“Now more than ever, it is vital that consumers track down any stranded pensions that they have worked hard to earn, and that they act to recover them sooner rather than later to regain control over these important pools of value.”

“Savers need to be protecting and fully maximising the value of their retirement savings, ensuring their assets are working as hard as they could be when it comes to delivering financial returns.”

Savers need a ‘holistic’ view

Meanwhile, a separate survey by pension provider Royal London revealed half of workers do not know who’s entitled to a state pension, with a third believing everyone receives the savings pot automatically.

Assessing workers’ relationship with pensions, Ranson added: “It is very common to have several pools of retirement assets during our lifetime, and it is often difficult to successfully and actively track all of them, especially if they are sitting with multiple providers over a long period of time.

“The high number of stranded assets is clearly concerning, obstructing consumers from having a holistic view across all of their wealth in aggregate in order to be able to plan forward with confidence and identify the funds needed for key milestones.”

Related: How to find your retirement cash as value of lost pensions rises to almost £27bn