Retirement wake-up packs from providers “simply don’t make people appreciate why they should contact Pension Wise”, according to Ros Altmann.
Responding to questions raised from the audience at the Marketforce event about previous statements criticising providers for not steering people towards the free guidance service, she referred to her own experiences.
Ms Altmann said: “I had a wake-up letter from my Sipp provider. It was three pages long and was almost all about calling their phone line, with the implication there would be individual advice.
“There was only a passing mention of Pension Wise at the end. It needs to be the other way round.”
Ms Altmann said she truly believes that the industry should do a lot more to send people to the guidance service.
She continued that it is not in competition with the industry, but added that providers should make sure consumers understand they do not necessarily need to do anything.
Ms Altmann said: “Not everyone has to be sold something, especially those around 55-years-old. They should save their pension.”
The Pension Advisory Service’s chief executive Michelle Cracknell was also speaking at the event at The Waldorf Hilton in London this morning (23 November) and argued signposting should be better.
Ms Cracknell, whose service offers Pension Wise guidance, said: “People get wake-up packs too late in the journey. Many have often made their decisions already. I think the conversation should be moved away from where it sits at the moment.”
She added Pension Wise guidance should be expanded to defined benefit pension scheme members, adding a better handover to regulated advice may also be something to come out of the Financial Advice Market Review.
Richard Parkin, Fidelity’s head of retirement, agreed with Ms Cracknell about savers coming to them with their decision already made about what they wish to do with their pension.
He said there is “a certainty of intent” with many of the people that have come to Fidelity since greater access to pension pots was granted by the government in April.
Mr Parkin said: “Providers get lambasted when they try to slow the process, trying to get in the way is difficult, as the tax implications don’t seem to bother most people.”
Last week FTAdviser revealed providers felt Ms Altmann was wrong to criticise the way they promote Pension Wise and questioned whether some consumers were lying about their plans to seek guidance.
Fiona Tait, pensions specialist at Royal London Group, said: “Eighty-five per cent of our customers stated that they were aware they could take advice or guidance and 67 per cent said they had done so before speaking to Royal London.
“However we believe the latter figure may be overstated since the responders may have felt they had to ‘tick this box’ in order to get their cash. There is no hard evidence of this. It is simply a concern we are keeping in mind when speaking to customers.”
peter.walker@ft.com
