Canada Life said that almost 60% of advisers are concerned about the tax relief rules, of which the finer details will be clarified before the introduction of the pension reforms in April.
The UK-based life company said these reforms have directly impacted on advisers’ anxiety about the future, with 38% of advisers expressing concern about auto-enrolment.
This fear, the report suggests, is rooted in the fact that the number of clients is expected to grow significantly in response to increased pressure on firms to increase the number of employees included in company pension schemes.
“The past year has seen a huge shift in the pensions arena, putting advisers directly on the front line as they guide clients through an array of new changes,” said Canada Life’s propositions and marketing director, Nick Harding. “This leaves no doubt that political factors are affecting their priorities and concerns for the year ahead.”
However, the research revealed advisers are less worried about tax policy on offshore investments, with the report citing only 7% of IFAs seeing this as a pre-election concern. Canada Life suggests few advisers are worried about this because they do not anticipate much change to occur in this area.
Policies regarding the Retail Distribution Review, inheritance tax and annuities regulation are a worry for around a quarter of IFAs.
“Landmark period”
Harding pointed out that when the new annuities rules come into effect it will clearly be a “landmark period”, but advisers mindful of the changes “will be able to restore confidence by offering clarity when liaising with clients, to guarantee that individual needs are still met”.
He added: “Although the spotlight is fully upon retirement savings and pensions of late, it is important that an holistic approach to investing is not overlooked.”
The research also investigated advisers’ attitudes towards measures introduced under the coalition government, with 67% saying changes brought in by the coalition government have been beneficial to the financial advice profession to some degree.
However, when asked whether they thought the government’s changes have been largely or completely beneficial, only 16% agreed, with a significant number of advisers (more than 37%) saying the RDR had been the least successful measure introduced since 2010.
Additionally, a slightly higher number of advisers thought the restructuring of the Financial Services Authority – which became the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority last year – was the least successful measure brought into effect by the coalition.
