Scottish Life to launch five new portfolios and planning tool

They will achieve this with the launch of five new portfolios designed specifically for people who plan to take income through a drawdown arrangement.

The new Governed Retirement Income Portfolios are diversified, multi asset portfolios and will be launched on 29 August.  The new portfolios have been developed to meet the needs of customers taking regular income, and can readily be matched to client risk profiles.  Risk targets are set for each portfolio to match the needs of a particular type of investor and to achieve a target level of sustainable income.

Lorna Blyth, Investment Marketing Manager at Scottish Life, said:

"Income drawdown advice is a complex area.  It's vital for advisers to understand and manage the risks involved; to document their process; and to clearly communicate the benefits and risks of a particular drawdown investment approach.  It's all about helping clients understand the trade-off between income now against income later, and the upside and downside of a particular investment approach."

To support the launch of the new portfolios, Scottish Life has developed an Income Planning Tool for advisers to use, which will be available from the launch date on the Scottish Life website.  It has been designed to help advisers select a portfolio and an income level which meet the client's income needs and attitude to risk.  

Lorna Blyth concludes:

"One of the key benefits identified by advisers who trialled the Income Planning Tool was that it helped them to understand and explain how investment returns and risk affect the range of possible outcomes for their client's income.  We believe this planning tool is unique in the market and it should provide invaluable support for many advisers."