PensionsSep 29 2014

Advisers turning to auto-enrolment post-RDR

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Nest is calling on advisers to prepare for an increase in demand for auto-enrolment support in 2015.

The government-funded auto-enrolment provider reports that 45,000 small and micro employers are set to stage next year, 74 per cent of which have already expressed a desire for support.

Continued desire for support has already seen a raft of auto-enrolment expert advisers emerge in order to help employers adjust to their new duties, often using tools from organisations such as Intrinsic and Unbiased.

Tim Jones, chief executive of Nest, said, “There’s evidence that advisers are ‘skilling up’ to be a one-stop shop for all their clients’ needs, from scheme selection and set-up to payroll integration and the ongoing running of the scheme.”

Advisers are improving their skills by signing up to software, such as Intrinsic’s AE in a box software and payroll solutions, which has received over 300 sign ups.

Over 5,000 members have signed up to Nest’s Adviser news, over 3,000 have attended a NEST webinar on how to administer the scheme as a third party, and many have promoted their specialisation by identifying themselves as auto-enrolment specialists on adviser websites.

And since launching their auto-enrolment solution AE in a box, three months ago, Intrinsic has conducted 16 courses with over 500 Intrinsic network members attending the training sessions.

The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) has been cited as a catalyst for the numbers of advisers looking into offering auto-enrolment support..

Jackie Fancourt, independent financial adviser at Jay Financial, said, “I use NEST, but I don’t know anything about Intrinsic or AE in a box. More advisers are starting to offer auto-enrolment following RDR, but many are unsure of how to go about it.

“I have offered auto-enrolment services since its outset, including information seminars to employers once per month, packages for accountancy firms, workshops where we set up NEST live for the employer on the day, usually about every one or two months.”

Intrinsic, the largest adviser network in the UK, stated that it expects to see a marked increase in the number of auto-enrolment cases and high volumes of business in 2015 and on.

Richard Bartlett, head of automatic enrolment and at retirement for Intrinsic Financial Services, said, “In a post-RDR world, advisers see the automatic enrolment market as an excellent way of increasing the adviser customer base. This allows advisers not only to help clients implement a qualifying workplace pension scheme but also deliver solutions for other needs such as pension transfers, mortgage and protection advice.”

Other firms in the financial intermediary space, including independent financial advisers, accountancy and outsourcing firms, are gradually building auto-enrolment services into their business models.

Neil Mutton, partner at Ablestoke wealth management, said, “The automatic enrolment market is a huge opportunity for advisers willing to roll up their sleeves and learn. The opportunity is of course not only to gain long-term corporate clients but also to provide a range of services to them.

“Intrinsic are, along with many payroll and other software providers, helping make the whole process more efficient and in their usual highly professional manner.”

NEST research stated that one in four small and micro employers currently offers an auto-enrolment scheme.

Mark Tipper from Tailored Auto Enrolment said, “The automatic enrolment market has not yet started in anger for the small to medium sized firms. It is not too late to get involved in offering a service, whether it’s through yourself as a qualified adviser or referring to one of the specialist firms on the Intrinsic panel.

“Intrinsic has put together a box of providers who have passed robust screening tests and offered guarantees that can’t be found anywhere else in the industry.”