Three insights into unsettling pension freedoms data
By Tom Carnegie, 22 Mar 18
The Financial Conduct Authority has released figures on pension freedoms that product providers have described as “concerning” and “do not make for comfortable reading”. International Adviser spoke to industry experts to get their thoughts on the data.
Charlie Musson from investment platform AJ Bell said the FCA report “does not make for comfortable reading”.
He said while pension freedoms were meant to breath life into the market, engagement with them remains stubbornly low.
“Huge numbers of people are still not giving much thought to how much they should be paying into a pension, how much their savings are worth or what charges they are paying.
“Our own research shows that only about a third of people who have heard of the new rules think they have a good understanding of them and there are still about two out of every five people in Britain who have never heard of the pension freedoms,” Musson said.
Interest lacking
He said the report makes it “loud and clear” that people do not have an interest in spending time on looking after their pensions.
“Auto-enrolment is bringing more people into the pension net and initiatives such as the pension dashboard and advances in technology more generally should help people engage more with their pensions, but the industry and the Government clearly still have a huge education challenge on their hands,” he said.
Tags: Aegon | AJ Bell | FCA | Old Mutual | Pension Freedoms
