So what happens if, even after careful consideration, you take out a pension with a provider whose fund management performance disappoints?

In the past, those with personal pension plans had little option but to stop paying into the poor-performing pension fund and start paying into another. However, this often involved extra costs, both for advice and in relation to the fund itself.

Only pension fund trustees, or those in charge of occupational pension schemes, had the freedom to switch funds from one pension provider to another without penalty if they were not happy with the rates of return they were getting.

However, all pension contracts taken out since the start of the tax year last April now have similar flexibility to transfer funds between pension providers.

Personal pensions taken out prior to that do not automatically have this freedom which remains at the discretion of the pension provider. But industry sources suggest that in the wake of the new legislation, most providers are adopting a flexible approach to this.

Generally, those with unit-linked pensions will find they are at less of a disadvantage when switching as they don't miss out on bonuses while those who have paid brokers' fees up-front are also likely to have more freedom.

While consumers using the same broker should not face further commission costs, depending on the way their charges are structured it may make less sense for them to switch.

Anyone switching pension funds may incur the bid/offer spread to exit one fund and buy into another.

Those with personal pension contracts are advised to keep a close eye on how they are performing. Ideally, like most other financial arrangements, they should be reviewed on an annual basis.

However, pension advisers also urge consumers not to jump to conclusions too hastily. Switching pension provider on the basis of a single year's poor performance is probably a little premature, they say, as fund management performance should really be judged over a three to five-year period at least.

They cite Eagle Star, one of the top performing fund managers in recent years but which has slumped to the bottom of the league table this year because of some poor investment decisions. Most advisers would urge clients to wait and see if its fund managers can bounce back rather than write them off too quickly.