Pensions freedom is boon and burden

So once the Brexit dust has settled, demand for pensions is likely to emerge fairly unscathed.

In fact it may even rise if Brexit uncertainty takes the steam out of the property market. Frankly. it would be no bad thing if people spent less time obsessing about the deposit for their first home and thought more about saving for the long-term as well.

Yes, annuity rates have taken a pummeling and the underlying equity assets on which DC schemes rely face a volatile few months.

However, the instinct to save not just for a rainy day, but for the hopefully golden years of retirement, remains as strong as ever.

IFAs should reap the benefits of a pensions revolution that has made retirement planning more interesting – and more complicated

Though admittedly if Sterling continues to plunge at its current rate, many of us will be retiring to a bungalow in Bournemouth rather than a villa in Valencia.

Take a bow, pensions freedom

While autoenrolment is strong-arming hundreds of thousands of people into the pensions habit for the first time, the growing appetite for retirement planning can be traced back to last year’s pensions revolution.

OK, so pensions aren’t quite the new rock ‘n’ roll yet. But a combined splurge of media coverage and government announcements on pensions has raised public awareness, if not understanding, of retirement options to record levels.

After years languishing at the bottom of most clients’ financial “to do” lists, retirement planning is now one of the primary reasons people seek help from their advisers.

As a result IFAs have become more important than ever, and should reap the benefits of a pensions revolution that has simultaneously made retirement planning more interesting – and more complicated – than ever before.

Race to the bottom on fees?

But the surge in demand for advisers’ pension expertise has coincided with intense competition on margins.

Many advisers are now being stretched by strong demand and squeezed by price competition at the same time.

The rise of the robo-adviser has led many to warn that the adviser profession is in danger of being commoditised, and could see a race to the bottom on fees.

But price won’t be the only battleground on which this struggle plays out – speed and quality of service will be just as important.

Pension transfers that require an adviser to fill in a 20-page paper document and endure a 30-day wait don’t just frustrate clients, they also waste the adviser’s time and eat into their margins.

Tech to the rescue

Clearly, any technology that reduces paperwork and improves efficiency is crucial for IFAs seeking not just to survive, but thrive in the post-pensions revolution world.

The pensions industry has long been notoriously slow to embrace new technology, but is finally grasping the nettle.

As Straight Through Processing becomes the norm, complexity is being reduced and ever more providers are enabling paperless transfers.

Unburdened by complex legacy systems, in many cases it is the pension world’s smaller players who have proved more agile and more able to adapt to new technology.

As a result, such technology hasn’t just leveled the playing field – it may even have tipped it in favour of the smaller operators.

And in a world where speed and quality of service can prove decisive for time-pressed and margin-squeezed advisers, these advances could prove decisive.

John Fox is managing director of Liberty SIPP