Aegon has launched Retiready, a digital service designed for non-advised savers that is designed to help them assess their income needs and choose suitable product solutions.
Retiready allows consumers to easily determine how ready they are for retirement by answering questions about their behaviour, awareness and finances. A “unique methodology” is then applied to the answers to create an easy to use readiness score.
Users can access the service online, through a fully mobile responsive site, to reflect on their retirement ambitions, understand if they are on track and see how some simple changes to their expectations and saving habits will improve their readiness score, Aegon said.
The proposition includes “simple pricing and a focused range of investment funds designed around the risk attitude of the target audience”.
Aegon said the driver for this are the radical pension changes announced in this year’s Budget.
The chancellor’s “sweeping changes” to retirement flexibility, coupled with auto-enrolment and DWP price caps represent a “tectonic shift” in the financial landscape, Aegon said.
Aegon said the changes, including the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review, means there is now a “growing market” for direct propositions, particularly as “advisers focus on those clients where they can add the most value”.
Lou Macari, platform strategy director at Aegon UK, said: “Retiready has been developed to help galvanise and support those falling short of their retirement objectives, but may have no idea that this is the case, or what they can do about it.
“Here at Aegon, we’re proud to be able to launch such a revolutionary digital service, which is answering the call for clear, helpful, progressive retirement solutions.
“Retiready will also support advisers in strengthening their relationships with customers who are seeking and willing to pay for advice, whilst maintaining a light touch relationship with those looking to self-serve.”
Mark Polson, principal at consultancy the Lang Cat, added: “The industry really does need to find ways of engaging with people that meet their needs in a genuinely helpful and practical way.
“Technology is the key. We’ve got a good starting point in the platforms market but it’s obvious we need to keep upping our game and get more creative.”
