Advisers could be facing a potential ‘capacity crunch’ as customers demand more frequent drawdown reviews, according to research.
Research by Zurich has found almost four in ten consumers in drawdown want reviews at least every six months.
The research stemmed from a YouGov survey of more than 250 advised consumers, which was conducted for Zurich.
It revealed 53 per cent of respondents want an adviser to review their drawdown plans once a year.
Of the remainder, 31 per cent preferred a meeting every six months, while 6 per cent would opt for one every three months and 1 per cent would look to meet their adviser more frequently.
Alistair Wilson, head of retail platform strategy, said: "In the future half-yearly reviews could become the norm, especially as defined benefit schemes decline, and people rely more than ever on drawdown for their retirement income.
"It’s positive that consumers are keen to engage with advice, and as more people move into drawdown, advisers are likely to face growing pressure on their time.
"This may mean advisers need to adjust how they work as they look to balance the demands of supporting existing customers, while continuing to develop their business."
Zurich said advisers relying on their platforms to service clients should ensure they meet certain requirements: offering simple and straightforward platform costs, automated disinvestment to ensure clients are always paid, straight-through processing of income changes and a choice for clients of withdrawal dates.
Additionally, using a platform that allows for consolidated income payments and offers pre-funding on lump-sums could also help, the platform provider stated.
Alistair Wilson added: "As more consumers move into drawdown, advisers will be relying on platforms to help them stay on top of their workload and run their businesses more efficiently.
"However, the reality is that a significant part of the platform market has yet to adapt to the need to help advisers deliver income to consumers in retirement.
"Advisers may need to review their platform technology and functionality and decide whether it can help them keep pace with their evolving needs and those of their customers."
Victor Sacks, founder of VS Associates, said: "The workload issue is very real for advisers. Mifid II has raised the bar. Ensuring portfolios are balanced, risk profiles are accurate, reports are written, and client income and expenditure is checked will take more time.
"This could lead advisers to conclude that they must charge more, which big clients are more likely to be able to absorb if they rightly want more meetings. However, it could leave smaller clients struggling to find an adviser and more open to pension investment scams."
dan.moore@ft.com
