L&G: holistic view of retirement advice is needed

Legal & General has cautioned that, while consumers increasingly see their retirement assets, including their home, as ‘one pot’, the distribution landscape remains siloed into products, with relatively few adviser firms able to cover all aspects of the retirement market, including lifetime mortgages.

Bernie Hickman, Managing Director, Individual Retirement Solutions at Legal & General, said:

“Historically, advisers have tended to specialise in either pension accumulation and retirement income solutions but relatively few consider the role that the home can play in retirement planning. We are starting to see a trend towards convergence of retirement funding streams with more consumers instinctively thinking about their home as their pension. This, together with the landscape changing introduction of pension freedoms mean it’s more important than ever for advisers to be able to offer genuinely ‘whole of customer need’ advice, including considering the potential of using the home to fund retirement.

Hickman added:

“Over 60s in the UK own nearly £1.3trn in housing equity. Advisers that are able to support customers in terms of accessing this will have an increasingly vital role to play in helping people to supplement their retirement income. Advisers that recognise the opportunity to deliver holistic solutions to customers at- and in-retirement will benefit from the changing market dynamics that we are seeing, and will increase their business volumes as a result.

“It’s also encouraging to see that the FCA has recently announced a review of the retirement lending market with a focus on how the wealth built up in property can be made more accessible to the growing numbers of people

“We believe that Government services like Pension Wise need to reflect their increasing demand for guidance and support right across the retirement assets spectrum, not just traditional pensions. Only then will consumers see the financial services industry and the Government presenting a united and consistent front that will help consumers to think more holistically about their retirement needs and the range of ways in which they can be funded.”