Just one in five advisers is satisfied with the current range of retirement income and saving solutions, research from MetLife shows.
One year on from the inception of the pension freedoms, just 22 per cent of specialist retirement advisers believe there has been enough innovation and new product launches to enable savers to take full advantage.
MetLife commissioned Pollright to survey 104 such advisers at the end of March, finding that two-thirds reckoned providers should have done more in the past year to meet demand for new products.
Advisers were keen to see pension freedoms succeed, with 85 per cent stating they would welcome the opportunity to recommend new products and features to providers.
However, the same advisers acknowledged that innovation is challenging, as 55 per cent agreed the cost and lead time needed to develop new solutions for drawdown has stopped many providers.
The past year has been the ideal time to launch new concepts such as guaranteed drawdown, but there has not been a strong enough response from providers. Simon MasseyAdditional research, also conducted at the end of March among 1,075 employed adults by Consumer Intelligence, showed 56 per cent were now more confused about retirement and pensions since the reforms of 6 April last year.
Simon Massey, wealth management director at MetLife UK, called it a “major disappointment” that there has been such a lack of innovation and new thinking.
“The past year has been the ideal time to launch new concepts such as guaranteed drawdown, but there has not been a strong enough response from providers.
“Savers can be excused for feeling more confused about pensions now than they were a year ago and many will be counting the cost of volatile markets after taking out drawdown contracts and seeing their pension fund drop in value.
“The industry has to do much more to provide certainty over capital and income along with the new flexibility that has proved so popular.”
| Topic | Adviser view in per cent |
| Advisers who believe there has been enough innovation | 22 |
| Advisers who believe more should be done to meet demand for new products | 66 |
| Advisers who would welcome the opportunity to recommend new products and features | 85 |
| Advisers who agreed lead time and cost in development has stopped many providers | 55 |
Adviser View
Claire Walsh, chartered financial planner at Brighton-based Aspect 8, said: “There have been new products from the likes of LV and Just Retirement and they’ve put a lot of effort into marketing these.
“One of the main problems is the complexity of these ‘third-way’ products and how to compare these and weigh up the additional costs against more straightforward options of annuity or drawdown, which is a challenge for advisers and clients alike.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
