The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) is considering giving financial advisers access to their clients' data in the pension dashboard as soon as 2019, a director revealed.
Julie Gillis, who is leading the pension dashboard feasibility study at the DWP, told FTAdviser the government hasn't ruled out this adviser access "being in early delivery".
Speaking after the launch of a report by consumer group Which? on the pension dashboard in London today (20 February), she said: "It is a key consideration for us, and we plan to set up what our approach will be in our report."
The DWP has taken over the lead in this project from HM Treasury, and is aiming to present a feasibility study on the dashboard at the end of March, Ms Gillis said.
The plan behind the pension dashboard, which is due to be launched in 2019, is to create the technology to enable savers to see all of their retirement pots in one place at the same time, giving them a greater awareness of their assets and how to plan for their retirement.
However, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) suggested in a report in October that advisers wouldn't be able to access clients' information by proxy in the initial pension dashboard.
According to the ABI, this "product does not need to include all the possible functionality at launch, and adding too much extra functionality would add significant risks to meeting a planned 2019 timescale".
Nevertheless, Fintech company Origo has already developed a way for financial advisers to access a client's pension dashboard.
Yvonne Braun, director of policy, long-term savings and protection at ABI, and also a speaker at the report launch, said the pension dashboard "is one of the recommendations of the Financial Conduct Authority in the Financial Advice Market Review".
She said: "The idea is that you will make advice more affordable if you take the legwork that advisers need to perform normally in terms of getting all that paperwork together, and making sense of it.
"I think that particular use of dashboards should not be forgotten. It really enables efficiencies in the advice market."
National advice firm LEBC has calculated that opening up this access to financial advisers will cut the cost of advice by up to £400.
In its report, which sets out a series of recommendations on how the dashboard should be created, consumer group Which? interviewed several financial advisers, which said that the project could "improve the efficiency of the process of giving guidance and advice".
Providing access to advisers would help to "focus to the conversation and avoid the need for the individual to go away to find further information," the report stated.
"It could help providers of guidance and advice walk the individual through the decisions required and the factors they should take into account. It would make the conversations more practical, rather than theoretical," the report added.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
