The Society of Later Life Advisers has extended its Retirement Advice Standard to all regulated advisers operating in the pension sector.
SOLLA Enterprises co-chairman and founder Tish Hanifan pointed out that there is currently no independent consumer facing body working to establish industry standards in this area.
“With this in mind, we believe that it is the right time to extend the current reach of the SOLLA brand to support this sector of the market.
“After an initial launch to SOLLA Full Members, we are now offering this important new initiative to all advisers working in this key sector”.
The initiative is supported by both Octopus Investments and Partnership, with the latter firm’s managing director of retirement Andrew Megson said that the move will help to build consumer confidence in this area of financial advice and highlight that consumer outcomes are at the heart of what the industry is looking to achieve.
Paul Latham, managing director of Octopus Investments, explained that the Retirement Advice Standard will in the near future be complimented by specialist standards covering care, equity release and housing.
“Consumers will be increasingly be able to identify and access a growing group of specialists who – in their chosen field – have demonstrated expertise and understanding of the needs in the later life market”.
Back in May, SOLLA teamed up with Octopus Investments to try and boost its membership to 1,000 by 2016 and deliver a robust framework for later-life advice.
peter.walker@ft.com
