WPS Advisory and Retirement Line have joined together to support people through the "at retirement minefield".
The partnership gives customers access to tailored guidance to help with their retirement decision-making, including purchasing an annuity, with the option to allow an automatic switch into advice when required to meet the customer’s needs.
The service will be available to people through workplace pensions schemes and also via an app.
By combining a guided and advised journey, the firms aim to deliver better outcomes for savers by ensuring people get the right support to make the right decisions for retirement.
The firms said a further benefit arising from the partnership, and the reduction in costs that will bring, will mean that members will receive better annuity rates.
Simon Chrystal, CEO at WPS Advisory, said: “We are excited to be offering this new option to help people to make the most of their retirement savings. Our whole approach behind developing this new service is to put the consumer duty into practice, putting better customer outcomes at the heart of what we are doing.
“By working together to provide, support, guidance and access to advice for people to achieve better outcomes, we have taken a consumer duty first approach to developing this new service and we are proud to bring this to market.
“Most individuals are in occupational pension schemes and master trusts and our joint efforts can have a very material impact on outcomes for so many people. This new service will ensure regular people get the help and support that we know they need to navigate the at retirement minefield.”
The firms said their expertise will also help with Retirement Line being the largest annuity broker in the UK and WPSA being the largest provider of retirement advice services via the workplace.
Mark Ormston, director at Retirement Line said: “Deciding what to do with their money at retirement is a minefield for many consumers. In recent years it is beginning to get greater attention from regulators and policymakers alike, but we need to act now to help people who are accessing their money.
“An overarching ambition of mine with this venture is to put the words into practice and develop something that really helps people now.
“In developing our joint proposition we looked at consumer duty, TR24/1 and recent relevant CFI’s and consultations such as, DWP’s supporting individuals at the point of access consultation to create a blueprint on how market leaders can join forces to add lasting value to consumers throughout the pension income journey.”
Consumer duty
The firms said this shows consumer duty in practice by working together to provide, support, guidance and access to advice for people to achieve better outcomes.
According to the regulator’s latest data on the retirement income market, between October 2022 and March 2023, 16,118 annuities were sold with no advice or guidance from Pension Wise - equivalent to 63 per cent of all annuity purchases being non-advised.
