Drawdown demand: Why biannual reviews could become the new norm for advisers

Annual reviews may soon be a thing of the past for advisers, at least with some clients, a Zurich study suggests.

A poll of almost 300 advised consumers whose pension is in drawdown found 38% want their adviser to carry out a review of their plan at least every six months.

About half (53%) said they were happy with annual reviews, though 6% said they’d prefer a quarterly meeting and 1% wanted a sit-down even more frequently.

Zurich’s Head of Retail Platform Strategy Alistair Wilson said advisers are likely to face growing pressure on their time.

“Consumers clearly value the role of advice in drawdown and the reassurance they receive from regular reviews with their adviser,” he said.

“In the future half-yearly reviews could become the norm, especially as defined benefit schemes decline, and people rely more than ever on drawdown for their retirement income.

“This may mean advisers need to adjust how they work as they look to balance the demands of supporting existing customers, while continuing to develop their business.”

The findings follow a study by Zurich - the first of its kind - examining whether drawdown is working for consumers.

What could help? Seven platform features to look out for…

Ancillary costs

Platform costs should be simple and straightforward, with no charges for exiting, withdrawals, paper statements, switches or hosting model portfolios (as some platforms do).

Automatic disinvestment

Clients should always be paid. But keeping an eye on cash levels for growing numbers of clients in drawdown – and having to intervene manually – is time consuming.  

Straight-through processing of income changes

Some platforms need paperwork and client signatures to change income levels or bank details etc… driving up the cost for clients.

Consolidated income payments

Clients are taking income from a number of wrappers, and your platform should be able to deliver a single combined payment.

Pre-funding when withdrawing cash

Consumers will get their money back slower from platforms that don’t offer pre-funding on lump sum withdrawals.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 660 adults whose pension is in drawdown, of which 276 had paid advice as their main support for managing their pension.