Industry members need to engage with ‘generation X’ - those in their late forties and early fifties - about the pensions choices now, according to the head of brand strategy at a global PR firm.
Speaking at a ‘baby boomer’ event this morning (26 March), Weber Shandwick’s Liz Wolstenholme said that the real problem comes not with the ‘baby boomers’, who will be first to access the pension freedoms, but ‘generation X’- the generation following them.
“The point is that in a sense this audience is not a problem, the problem really comes with the next generation, the older generation X who are very materialistic, very spendthrift,” she stated.
“They are quite impulsive an audience and they are the ones who are really not thinking about this at all and I think the industry needs to start talking to them right now because when they get to that point [of age 55] they are really going to be in trouble.”
Elsewhere at the event, David Geale, the Financial Conduct Authority’s head of investment policy, said that the regulator was looking at redesigning the retirement wake-up packs which providers are currently using for clients.
Earlier this week, FTAdviser reported that the government has partnered with LV to start a ‘pensions passport’ trial next month, following the regulator stating last year that an alternative to the existing wake-up packs must be found to help invigorate the retirement income market.
Mr Geale also said today that the FCA will be publishing a discussion paper on this very shortly.
Earlier in March this year that the regulator said it was readying a discussion paper aimed at helping advisers and other financial services firms slim disclosure and suitability documents down to a manageable size for consumers to digest.
At that time, responding to questions during a panel session at Distribution Technology’s annual conference, Rory Percival, the FCA’s technical specialist, told the audience of advisers to “watch this space” when asked for guidance to help alleviate the “insidious expansion of suitability reports”.
Mr Geale said today that the FCA “will be looking at how firms have embedded risk warnings particularly signposting to Pension Wise”, adding that the regulator is now working with the government on the pensions dashboard.
With regard to charges disclosure he said “we need to look at all that together in the round”, suggesting that there shouldn’t be two different sets of charges for pensions and fund managers.
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
