One In Five IFAs Happy With Retirement Income Options

Just one in five advisers is satisfied is satisfied with the current range of retirement income and saving solutions, research from MetLife shows (IFAs).

One year on from inception of the pension freedoms, just 22 per cent of specialist retirement advisers believe there has been enough innovation and new product launches to enable savers to take full advantage.

Metlife commissioned Pollright to survey 104 such advisers at the end of March, finding that two-thirds reckoned providers should have done more in the past year to meet demand for new products.

Advisers were keen to see pension freedoms succeed, with 85 per cent stating they would welcome the opportunity to recommend new products and features to providers.

However, the same advisers acknowledged that innovation is challenged as 55 per cent agreed the cost and lead time needed to develop new solutions for drawdown has stopped many providers.

Additional research, also conducted at the end of March among 1,075 employed adults by Consumer Intelligence, showed 56  per cent were now more confused about retirement and pensions since the reforms of 6 April last year.

Simon Massey, Wealth Management Director at Metlife UK, called it a “major disappointment“ that there has been such a lack of innovation and new thinking.

“The past year has been the ideal time to launch new concepts such as guaranteed drawdown, but there has not been a strong enough response from providers”.

“ Savers can be excused for feeling more confused about pensions now than they were a year ago and many will be counting the cost of volatile markets after taking out drawdown contracts and seeing their pension fund drop in value. The industry has to do much more to provide certainty over capital and income along with flexibility that has proved so popular”.

(FTadviser, 2016)