The rest have been from clients considering the new flexible drawdowns or an annuity in equal measure, the life assurance company said.
“Of the calls received to date an alarmingly low 8% had sought guidance from Pension Wise before contacting Canada Life,” it said in a statement announcing the launch of its new range of retirement products.
“This is worrying considering the implications for total withdrawal, including increased tax liabilities and the danger of running out of sufficient funding for a long retirement,” it said.
Canada Life said overall customer calls were up 30% increase in customer enquiries since the new pension freedoms took effect on
“The initial calls we have received indicate that there is a large appetite among our existing customers to take advantage of the new freedoms and manage their pension savings to best suit their individual needs,” Richard Priestley, executive director individual onshore at Canada Life said.
The UK’s new pension freedoms allow savers over 55 the ability to access all or part of their defined contribution pension schemes though at various tax rates.
Canada Life has launched three new three retirement income products – the Pension Investment Plan, Flexible Drawdown Plan and the Fixed Term Income Plan. The new products were announced last month but the company has given additional detail on their fee structures.
The costs for setting up the Fixed Term Income Plan are allowed for when the income is calculated. Both the Pension Investment Plan and Flexible Drawdown do not have any set up fees, fund switching charges or other product or transactional fees, and have a sliding scale of annual management charges based on the fund value.
Customers will be able to choose from over 150 funds and the fund manager’s charges will depend on the funds selected.
