65% of advisers considering specialist income services

Up to 65% of advisers are planning to offer specialist income modelling services, the study found, making it the most popular new service being considered by retirement income specialists.

The need for income modelling is underlined by the research which found advisers believe the risk of outliving pension funds is the biggest unintended risk of the new rules – 82% in the study highlighted the risk of outliving funds as the biggest risk ahead of 71% of advisers who are concerned about savers relying on guidance and 69% who fear that savers will be targeted by fraudsters.

Nearly half (47%) of advisers believe tax risks are a major threat and around one in four are looking to start specialist tax planning services, while one in five are looking at adding long-term care planning services to their business.  

Advisers are targeting major changes in their business mix with 81% of advisers identifying drawdown as the most popular retirement income solution ahead of 42% of advisers who believe ISAs will be the most popular and 31% who expect Guaranteed Drawdown to become the most popular solution.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of adviser firms have invested in their businesses so they can respond to pension flexibility while another 7% plan to invest in the coming months. The main focus of the investment is on training with 56% of firms spending money on training for advisers while 38% are investing in training for support staff. Around 17% say they are investing in marketing.  

Dominic Grinstead, Managing Director, MetLife UK, said:

“Certainty over retirement income remains crucial in the new pension world and advisers have recognised that with the focus on launching new modelling services.”

“Innovation will drive market expansion over the coming months and years and advisers are demonstrating their commitment to launching new services to meet growing demand.”

MetLife has seen strong demand for increased flexibility and certainty and worked hard to ensure that new and existing clients and their advisers are able to take full benefit of flexibility with no additional charges for withdrawals.