2015 - heralding a shift in the later life advice sector

For those working in the advice profession, particularly later life advice, next year promises to bring with it some of the biggest and fundamental changes ever seen and therefore one would be rather naive not to turn our thoughts to how we develop our propositions and offerings to cope with these developments.

The whole industry appears to be locked in an ongoing debate about not just the wholesale pension changes that will be implemented from April 2015 but also the nature of the Government’s Guidance Guarantee, who delivers it, what it will cover, how it compares to advice and whether advisers will be winners or losers from its implementation. For what it’s worth, I see Guidance as providing a real fillip for later life advisers for the simple reason that guidance is not advice.

Like many, I believe individuals will come away from their Guidance sessions with perhaps a deeper understanding of what their options are but no understanding about what they should be doing. Essentially, Guidance is ‘light touch’ and what individuals will essentially be looking for is ‘Guidance-plus’ which means ‘advice’.
 

We all know people will only get recommendations through advisers and therefore the value of advice should be increased dramatically post-Guidance. It is up to the advisory profession to spread this message and to ensure that, where people want to move quickly from Guidance to advice that they know where to find it and what they can expect from their adviser.

Organisations like the Later Life Academy have been specifically set up to support advisers’ later life advice propositions, and we will be able to provide a wealth of information and ‘advice’ in order to make sure our members make the most of the opportunities that are opening up in the market. Let’s not forget the scope of these changes – they are the most fundamental we have ever seen and are shifting the whole nature of retirement finances. Therefore, we need to be prepared for their introduction and what they will mean for the consumers who are going to be working their way through this new process.

We recently held an Ambassadors meeting for the Academy in London and were very keen to hold a ‘blue sky thinking’ discussion with all concerned about the future for the later life advice market and where we can position ourselves to provide the greatest amount of support to members. The session was pretty incredible and we came away from it with a clear vision on the future – so much so that we are very close to announcing a major, industry-wide campaign around Guidance and our plans. At the moment it is a case of ‘watch this space’ but I guarantee this will be a unique solution to these unique changes and advisers operating in this sector will hopefully see the full benefits of what we are going to offer.

In this market, in order to develop an understanding of what consumers need from guidance and advice, training is absolutely vital. And that training has to specifically focus on all parts of the new consumer journey, up to and beyond Guidance, and hopefully onto advice. If advisers have the right skills and strategy then next year should truly herald the start of a significant shift in the later life advice sector, one where advisers perform the central role allowing individuals to make the right choices and have the best retirement they can possibly achieve. What adviser wouldn’t want to be at the forefront in providing this?