The financial advice arm of Aviva has launched an abridged advice service for people who need planning on their defined benefit (DB) pensions.
The firm said that the service will help to bridge the advice gap in the UK.
It will focus on planning and customer needs in a bid to make an informed decision whether or not they need to proceed to full advice.
The move comes after the FCA unveiled changes to the DB transfer market in June, which included banning contingent charging and as well as enable firms to give abridged advice.
Simpler process
Mary Harper, managing director of Aviva Financial Advice, said: “Previously, if someone came to us to ask about the suitability of transferring their DB pension, they would have to go through the whole advice process even if the recommendation at the end was not to transfer.
“Offering abridged advice means we can take customers through a much simpler process to understand if transferring is not the right thing for them in the first instance.
“More broadly, we understand the different levels of support that people need – from information gathering to full advice – and we’re tailoring our proposition so that a broader set of customer needs can be met.
“Customers need advice on their DB pensions in order to be able to properly review the whole of their wealth and retirement strategy. It is an incomplete picture without considering what is the best choice for them if they have a DB pension as part of their retirement savings.”
Digital shift
Harper continued: “In some ways, the restrictions we have all faced this year have only accelerated what we were likely to have seen over the next few years anyway.
“Businesses have adopted new ways of working to remain accessible to customers and the financial advice sector has seen this too.
“We don’t believe advice will be 100% face-to-face in the future – the experience is already becoming much more digitised and designed around what works best for each individual customer.
“We’ve already digitised many of our processes during the pandemic and will continue to do so going forward.”
