United Kingdom (UK) Financial Advice in Pensions 2021

Pensions are one of the most complex financial products, yet most individuals do not access advice and may not be making the most of their investments. Individuals financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic have been the largest users of financial advice on pensions. Advisors have an opportunity to grow their customer base by improving access to advice and offering customers varying levels of service at different price points. This would make advice services more relevant to specific consumer groups, based on their life stage, their financial situation, how they were impacted by COVID-19, and ultimately their own goals.

This report assesses the profiles of consumers accessing advice on their private pensions and examines how often they access advice, which channels they use, and for which aspects of managing pensions they take advice. The report explores what considerations customers take into account when choosing financial advice and how COVID-19 impacts individuals’ advice choices. This report has been built using insights from our 2021 UK Life & Pensions Survey data, featuring a panel of 4,000 consumers aged 18+.

Scope

• Only 39.0% of individuals access financial advice on their pensions, highlighting the advice gap. More men than women access advice.
• 22.1% of adults who get advice on pensions have increased the frequency at which they seek advice since the outbreak of COVID-19.
• the largest proportion of respondents (32.2%) rely most on guidance from IFAs, brokers, and other advisors than other channels for advice, despite the fees associated with such services.
• the majority of individuals (68.8%) receive financial advice before changing their pension investment allocation/strategy.

Reasons to Buy

• Discover the profile of individuals accessing advice on pensions.
• Understand which channels they use and how frequently they access advice.
• Explore the advice gap in pensions.
• Learn to what extent robo-advisors are used.
• Understand how COVID-19 is changing consumers’ attitudes towards advice.