Most independent financial advisers have not yet signed up to the Money Advice Service’s retirement adviser directory, which will be the primary mechanism for referrals from guidance providers to regulated advice from April, according to an exclusive poll conducted for FTAdviser.
From a sample of 178 advisers on the Unbiased directory, just 28 per cent stated they are on the directory, which opened for free registrations in January. A further 29 per cent said they have not done so but plan to in the future.
That leaves 43 per cent of respondents who have not signed up to be on the list of advisers and have not indicated an intention to do so.
Mas is planning to roll out its directory by the end of this month, in time for the pension changes due in April.
Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, commented: “With the pension freedom date looming I’d have expected more than a third of advisers have signed up to the Mas directory. It’s also interesting that over 40 per cent say they don’t plan to at all.”
She proposed that one reason for this could be that advisers are aware that product providers and other bodies referring consumers to advice already use directory’s like hers.
The Mas adviser directory lists those advisers able to advise on at-retirement business and that are independent of product providers, including ‘restricted’ advisers that are whole of market within their selected areas.
Advisers will be asked will be asked to commit to providing an initial no-obligation meeting, either by phone or face-to-face, for customers coming through the directory. They are also asked to state whether they will deal with all wealth levels, to help filter firms for smaller pot clients.
Speaking at an FTAdviser pension freedoms event last week, the Pensions Advisory Service’s Michelle Cracknell stated the Mas directory must eventually be more detailed to improve customer outcomes, explaining that ‘granularity’ would help customers get a firm willing to deal with them in terms of pension pot size and personal circumstances.
Ms Barrett added: “Given that we deal with over a million consumers a year looking for independent financial advice, we know that people seeking retirement advice need a high level of information, presented in an accessible and friendly way to help them make the right choice.”
Ms Barrett previously told FTAdviser that she was disappointed Unbiased was not chosen as the basis for the directory after submitting a proposal, suggesting the decision was largely based on the fact it has a commercial model which gives prominence to advisers paying for a full profile.
peter.walker@ft.com
