Aviva nabs GPP client, bypassing adviser
An adviser who alleges he had negotiated a better deal for a group pension scheme has lost the corporate client to Aviva, a few weeks after he accused the provider of sidestepping him.
London-based Aurora Financial Services had a letter of authority earlier this year to act for the pension fund, after it had parted company with a previous advisory firm.
However, after the firm successfully negotiated a better deal, reducing the schemes charges from 0.73 per cent to 0.45 per cent, Aurora director Daren O’Brien learned that Aviva had gone directly to the employer with the same deal.
Mr O’Brien said that while this was within Aviva’s rights, it left a bad taste, adding: “Insurers seem to be moving towards D2C propositions while also cherry-picking the most profitable clients and group schemes, leaving those they do not want or cannot make money from without support, even when the schemes are only a few years old.”
Laurence Sanderson, pension specialist at Sterling and Law Financial Consultants, agreed that insurers seemed to be moving more towards direct to consumer propositions, which posed a serious threat to advisers.
He said Mr O’Brien’s experience seemed to be part of a trend, adding: “It seems to be a case of Aviva deciding where the future of distribution is for the company. Is it direct or through intermediaries? This action seems to suggest the former.”
Right to Reply
A spokesman for Aviva said it had nothing more to say on the case, referring to its original comment: “The employer is a direct client of Aviva and we are required to inform them of any changes that may be made. In this case it included a change to charges resulting from a review by an adviser.”
