The Big Question

What New Year’s resolution do you feel the retirement planning industry should make and why?

John Moret is marketing director at Suffolk Life

I think there is a desperate need for the industry to start rebuilding confidence and trust. That means increased focus on the customer. A recent report by Investor in Customers on SIPP providers showed that they are in danger of losing the customer centric approach and personal touch – and the same can probably be said for the rest of the retirement planning industry.

The other big issue for me in 2010 is to raise the profile of the impact of increasing longevity. To date, the industry has made very little effort to educate the public on the potential consequences of living longer. But the trend of improved longevity seems inexorable and increased awareness is essential as a pre requisite of trying to deal with the implications.

Mike Morrison is head of pensions development at Axa Winterthur Wealth Management

For 2010, the retirement planning industry should aim to make retirement as smooth as possible. This means being clearer about the options available and using less jargon. We must also start to treat retirement as a process and not just one point in time.

The industry should also continue its lobbying for a full review of retirement options to ensure that what is offered is what consumers actually want.

Bob Perkins is technical manager at Origen

I believe our main goal should be to reinforce the importance of accumulating personal wealth in a holistic manner.

In recent years considerable attention has, quite rightly, been given to ways in which those at or approaching retirement can use their accumulated funds to maintain their lifestyle in retirement. There has arguably been less attention drawn to how more individuals can accumulate wealth to widen their range of options. There is also no doubt that the now complex ‘simplified pension’ regime, coupled with the attack on higher rate tax relief on pension contributions, has done much to undermine confidence in pension saving.

Richard Ross is product manager at Assureweb

Cut out all unnecessary costs. The industry has to solve the problem of small annuity pots; the current mix of operating models still involves too many labour intensive processes, the cost of which is ultimately being passed on to the consumer. Distributors and providers need to invest now in a clear set of processes that are appropriate to the value of the business on offer instead of trying to adopt a single process for all. Before the OMO take-up rate can be improved the industry needs to comfortably demonstrate that it has the procedures in place to deal with small pots, and that the consumer will not be disadvantaged or suffer unnecessary delays.

Adrian Shandley is managing director at Premier Wealth Management

The best present I could imagine in the New Year would be a change of Government, so I would urge everybody in the retirement planning industry to make it their New Year resolution to vote either Liberal or preferably Conservative.

But such a vote should come with a condition that the new Government would restore the pension’s tax credits and abolish the age 75 ruling on compulsory purchase of annuities. The current Government has been in power too long, and my deep worry is that if they remain in power any longer they will impose yet more tax rises on pension funds, or investments generally, further penalising hard working savers.

Fiona Tait is business development manager at Scottish Life

All parts of the industry must engage more effectively with the end customer and use clear, simple messages to help them understand why they should save for their retirement. Advisers and providers should work together to give better information to our mutual clients.
The average person thinks pensions are complicated and risky. We need to get back to basics and remind people of the key facts:
1. People should save for their future.
2. People are spending longer and longer in retirement. This means they need to save more.
3. Pensions are not all about high-risk investments.

These fundamental messages are much more important to clients than the detailed tax rules surrounding different pension arrangements. Get the client engaged first then do the technical stuff later. That’s a worthwhile resolution for 2010.

Martin Tilley is pension consultant & business development manager at Dentons Pension Management

They should invest in a crystal ball, so that future punitive tax measures can be foreseen and planned for, as this would appear to be the only way of being able to provide any degree of certainty in future client financial planning.

Andrew Tully is senior pensions policy manager at Standard Life

We need a stronger partnership between Government and industry to educate people about the value of saving so they set aside money rather than relying on credit. As part of this pensions need to be simplified, and legislation harmonised across all pension types.

The person on the street doesn’t care about the ins and outs of their retirement income; they just want it to work for them. Simplification would help demystify pensions, make them cheaper to administer, and the saving could be passed on to customers.

The continuous changes to pension tax rules which we have seen do nothing to encourage saving. Instead, we need clear, simple rules for the long-term.

We also want to see people being able to pass on pension wealth without the huge tax charges which currently apply. People would be encouraged to save more if they knew their family would also benefit.

Peter Welch is head of sales & distribution at Bridgewater Equity Release

The simple answer is ‘To include equity release in every retirement planning conversation regardless of the customer’s age’. There is no dispute that there are large sections of the retired population who are eligible for equity release schemes but do not chose to benefit from them.

The retirement industry owes it to its customers to embrace equity release as one of its core financial planning tools. By including equity release in all discussions it will help to increase levels of understanding, improve consumer confidence and remove some of the stigma that customers sometimes place on it.

Ian Wilkinson is pensions director at Rutherford Wilkinson

My New Year’s resolution for the retirement planning industry is to encourage employers to keep faith with pension provision and not to ‘level down’ their pension provision to the equivalent of the new National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). We must try to get the message across to employers and employees alike of the value of making proper provision for retirement.