A third of advisers surveyed by Aviva said auto-enrolment looks to be one of the biggest growth opportunities this year.
During November, the provider spoke to 1,865 advisers and paraplanners, finding 54 per cent had seen an increase in demand for information from small and micro employers, with 16 per cent reporting a significant increase.
However, more than half of advisers said that payroll and data management was the hardest to advise on, followed by both process management and communications and compliance at just under a third.
Additionally, when asked why they were not currently operating in the auto-enrolment market, the most common answer was that it was not part of their core business at 45 per cent.
For 19 per cent of advisers it was not deemed profitable enough and 14 per cent put it down to a lack of qualifications and expertise.
Andy Beswick, managing director for business solutions at Aviva, said advisers have got a choice to make about how actively they want to be involved in the auto-enrolment market.
He said: “The better they define their own proposition the more they will be able to cope with demand. Equally it’s a legitimate choice for advisers not to operate in this market. Some advisers will decide they are not comfortable in this world.”
He pointed out there is a capacity question, with half a million firms set to stage this year.
“Auto-enrolment is compulsory for employers to do - getting the message through to employees as well as employers is really important.”
Research by the Federation of Small Businesses, published earlier this month, showed at least 45 per cent of business owners without a workplace pension scheme are still unclear of their responsibilities.
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
