Personal PensionDec 31 2013

Nest: Nine in 10 firms will seek auto-enrolment advice

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More than 90 per cent of employers intend to seek advice on how to implement auto-enrolment and which scheme they should use, as well as to help with the on-going processes of complying with auto-enrolment on a monthly basis, the National Employment Savings Trust has claimed.

Speaking to FTAdviser, John Taylor, Nest’s managing director for customer and proposition, says Nest’s research highlights that there is a “clear opportunity” for advisers in this new environment.

Mr Taylor said in the last 12 months, Nest has seen that lots of employers are speaking to third parties, such as accountants, IFAs and payroll providers to understand the requirements of auto-enrolment

He said: “In the face of such unprecedented demand, advisers are finding different ways to adapt their own business models to incorporate automatic enrolment. For example, some are developing low-cost, high-volume offerings to help many employers comply; [while] others are using AE as a way of generating leads for higher margin business such as wealth-management or group protection.

“As one adviser who is dealing with Nest said; ‘Automatic enrolment is a project management, administration and data task, not just a pension advice exercise’.”

Mr Taylor added that over a million employers will have to comply over the next four years, with SMEs having to comply next summer.

He said: “More and more advisers are switching on to the potential of automatic enrolment. If you haven’t already decided what it means for your clients and your own business, it’s time to take a closer look.”

Auto-enrolment is now over a year old, and has had an encouraging start, with opt-out rates of around 10 per cent far lower than early prediction sof around 30 per cent.

Mr Taylor said that Nest has now enrolled almost 700,000 members and has assets under management of around the £50m mark. In July alone Nest enrolled over 100,000 members, which is likely to be a record during the whole automatic enrolment process, Mr Taylor added.

He said: “But it’s just the start and there is a lot to do. During the so-called ‘capacity crunch’ of next summer close to 30,000 employers will be reaching their staging date. At Nest, d

“Due to our public service obligation, we have designed Nest specifically for large volumes and are geared up to accept as many employers as want to use us – we can’t say no. That means employers and advisers can rely on Nest to provide them with an auto-enrolment solution.”