Blackrock has launched an interactive tool for advisers to help clients save for life’s ‘big moments’ by using its range of income funds.
The Plan For Income suite includes an adviser toolkit, available in both hardcopy and virtual format, which consists of conversation starters and scenarios to discuss with clients, urging the need for making an income investment plan.
This is backed by the online Income Navigator, which an adviser can use to stipulate a client’s goal, timeframe and investment lump sum to generate a chart demonstrating how investments would perform historically across a range of income asset classes, versus income generated by cash over 25 years.
Of course, there is also a product finder which suggests a mix of active and passive Blackrock income funds, as the firm does not sell directly to retail consumers.
Jeremy Roberts, head of UK retail sales, noted that the firm needed the adviser distribution channel to “engage with clients so that they engage with us, increasing education on longer term savings”.
Alex Hoctor-Duncan, head of EMEA retail at Blackrock, said the plan was created to provide “a stepping stone to help advisers and consumers put an action plan in place to reach their goals and invest sufficiently for the future”.
He added that “savers need to become investors, but people fear the volatility of capital”.
A Blackrock survey, conducted last September among 17,600 people aged between 25 and 74 across 12 countries including the UK, found that 68 per cent of British respondents investments are in cash, despite savers voicing concerns about whether they can achieve their long-term goals.
peter.walker@ft.com
