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Supporting Pension and Investment Advice

According to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) 2024 Financial Lives survey, just 9% of adults had received advice on their pensions or investments in the preceding twelve months. Looking at those who hadn’t received advice but had more than £10,000 in cash savings, 24% said they didn’t invest because they didn’t know enough about investing and 12% felt overwhelmed by the number of investment options available.

 Results such as these have led the FCA to put forward proposals for a new type of “targeted support” which would enable providers to make investment suggestions to groups of consumers who may have similar investment needs. These, the FCA say, could include those who have excess cash sitting in a current account or who may be drawing down their pensions unsustainably. The proposals, which have been put to pension and investment firms, banks, consumer groups and other interested parties, are now subject to a consultation period which runs until 29 August 2025. Areas for consideration include the challenge of differentiating between generic advice being offered to ‘consumer groups’ and specific advice which takes account of an individual’s personal circumstances.

 If you are looking for advice on investments or if your situation has changed and you may therefore need to review your existing pensions or investments, contact Beckworth by using one of the links on our website.