Whose pension is it anyway? It's all yours, according to pensionsunplugged.com, the new low-charges website that empowers the client to do their own pensions housekeeping.

Transparency, flexibility and control are the hallmarks of this progressive new pensions website.

At 3.5 per cent, the ongoing charges for personal pensions are very competitive. The 1 per cent annual fund management charge is slightly higher than what is offered by other intermediaries.

"There's nothing complicated about pensions - it's only about putting money in and taking money out," managing director Mr Barry Coleman explained when describing the multi-functional administrative site. The joint venture between Finance Matters and Vision Consulting is a departure in pensions services. Clients of the site will be able to view a full statement of worth at any time. They will also have the facility to plot increases or decreases in their monthly contributions for up to three years.

Pensionsunplugged pensions are fully compliant with the new Personal Retirement Savings Account legislative framework. Clients will be able to start, stop, increase or decrease payments at any time.

The company allows unlimited online fund-switching between 30 funds. The instructions are executed within two working days. The statement of worth screen is a good example of how clear pension information should be, showing exactly how much a pension is worth at any time and what its transfer value is.

It can take weeks or even months to extract these details from a broker, life company or human resources department. Transaction details can be called up showing how much has been contributed to the pension fund by the individual and their employer, and how much the pension fund is currently worth. For each transaction, the site shows how much has been taken out in charges and how much has been invested. Information is available for the past 18 months.

Pensionsunplugged has eight funds available from five investment managers - Bank of Ireland Asset Management, Hibernian, Setanta, Friends First and KBC Asset Management. Through the site, clients can change their percentage fund allocation or add a fund to their portfolio when any new money is invested. A 1850 number provides assistance to anyone using the site but advice is limited to how to use the site as this is an execution-only service.

Pensionsunplugged will be looking to convince large corporations to transfer existing schemes to them. To this end, Mr Coleman and his team will be employing "viral marketing techniques" and advertising will be subtle and targeted.

Another key market will be accountants and their "communities" of clients, as well as professional affinity groups.

The main benefit to the corporate sector of using this kind of service is that it will encourage interest and awareness of the occupational scheme and cut out a lot of the administration, Mr Coleman claims. "Employers may feel that they might as well be sinking their money into a vat that no-one understands or cares about but the functionality we can provide would tackle that indifference."

Scheme members would be able to see what the employer is contributing to their fund and instantly access its performance and transfer value.

Depending on the trustee rules, there would be some restrictions on most company schemes as to how much flexibility and control members could have. The fund switching option, for example, might not be available to individuals visiting their own company's version of the site.

The pensions consultancy Finance Matters has spent £2 million (€2.54 million) in the development of its new Web company. The funds were raised from Vision Investments, the investment arm of Vision Consulting, which bought a 40 per cent holding in Finance Matters.

Vision Consulting employs 400 people in Europe and the US, and it worked on the development of Banking 365 Online for Bank of Ireland and Intelligent Finance for Halifax in Britain.

Personal pensions charges are exorbitant, with many brokers and direct sales agents still charging full commission. That means that 50 per cent of an individual's first year's contributions are taken in commission and typically 4 per cent per year thereafter.

Intermediaries also offer half commission or 25 per cent of year-one contributions or you can pay a flat fee to have your pension set up. With pensionsunplugged, these initial charges are avoided.

Though the new service is welcome, there will be implications for some pension investors regarding the absence of advice. Constant chopping and changing of pension funds is unlikely to produce enhanced returns because a pension is by nature a long-term investment.

Pensionsunplugged expects its client base to be financially sophisticated but not all pension holders will make sound decisions without some advice. There may be a temptation to move funds in response to news or events rather than basing an investment strategy on strong underlying principals.