Aviva Financial Advice launches Whole of Market panel for Annuities

• Aviva Financial Advice provides Whole of Market advice proposition on annuities
• Customers benefit from retaining holistic view of retirement needs through one adviser
• Replaces previous referral model

Aviva Financial Advice (AFA) has announced the launch of a new Whole of Market advice model for annuities, replacing the previous referral requirement in cases where a non-Aviva product provided the best solution for their customer’s needs.

Through the new process, AFA will review a customer’s options and then undertake a whole of market review to find the best match for the customer’s needs. AFA advisers are now able to recommend other providers’ annuities and complete the set-up process as part of their role of advising on the whole of a customer’s retirement needs at this crucial point in the financial planning journey.

This means that customers will be able to remain with their named AFA adviser, who will understand their personal situation and talk through their specific requirements, as well as providing advice for securing the right annuity features for that customer, and the leading quoted rate from across the whole market.

This seamless process is much easier for customers to navigate, as their information only needs to be collected once and everything else is done by that same adviser. It also simplifies the process for a customer where pension pots consolidation is a consideration, as is increasingly commonly the case.

Rob Barker, Managing Director UK Savings and Retirement, said:

“We’re delighted to be able to offer a Whole of Market option to our customers for annuities, which allows us to extend the advice service we can provide at this critical time in a customer’s financial planning journey. This builds on our previous model by making both the customer experience and the advice process far more joined-up end-to-end. This new proposition is better for our customers as AFA can advise on an annuity from across the whole market as part of their existing advice rather than being referred to a third party.

“It’s very important that people have advice at the point of choosing an annuity, as it’s a once-only decision that can’t be changed. Without advice, too often customers may opt for a product which gives the highest initial return, without understanding the implications of their choice, such as whether their circumstances would be better served with guarantees, for instance, or by selecting certain death benefit options.

“It gives customers the peace of mind that their AFA adviser understands the interlinked elements of their financial goals for retirement and how an annuity fits into those.”

AFA was launched in November 2016, in response to the growing advice gap created by the introduction of pension freedoms. Advice initially focused on At-Retirement and strategies around planning optimal use of pension pots.

Since then, Defined Benefit transfer advice, abridged advice, investment advice, IHT planning and Equity Release advice have been added to the services offered, and the advice proposition has now been further broadened with the inclusion of Whole of Market advice for annuities. Aviva will continue to build up the proposition to provide advice across life stages and whole of wealth requirements. 

Rob concludes : “Our ambition is to help bridge the advice gap, so we will continue to look at how we make our advice offering more accessible to more people, whether that is by adding more propositions, if we see the demand, or thinking flexibly about other ways in which people can benefit from advice, whether that’s the full service or a simplified version.”

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