Figures from Prudential highlight a growing number financial advisers need assistance with pension regulations and tax planning.
In the first three months of 2017, the Prudential Adviser Helpline team dealt with 5,285 enquiries from advisers – 1,000 more than the same period last year.
Requests for help with the annual allowance and lifetime allowance accounted for more than 1,000 enquires - nearly one in five of the total.
The other common topics which advisers also need help with include trust planning, appointing trustees, and calculating chargeable events.
Pensions transfers, tax relief and death benefit options also cause confusion.
To put the scale of queries received by Prudential’s Adviser Helpline in just the first three months of this year, the service had more than 14,000 enquiries from intermediaries in 2016.
Les Cameron, head of technical at Prudential, said: “The large number of enquiries received by the Prudential Adviser Helpline highlights how many advisers are struggling to keep pace with the huge amount of regulatory change that has occurred over the past two years.
“For example, advisers are struggling to understand the complexities of the tapered annual allowance and are turning to our technical experts for help.
“That is not surprising because the rules are extremely complex and take into account all workplace benefits when calculating annual income.”
Chris Daems, director of Cervello Financial Planning, said he was not surprised by the level of enquiries as this reflects the significant increase of enquires into his own business.
He said: "The impact of both the annual and lifetime allowances can't be underestimated either especially with the lowering of the MPAA and the increased number of individuals edging ever closer to their lifetime allowance."
emma.hughes@ft.com
