Ensuring the Best Retirement Income Advice Outcomes

Advisers should focus on these five key improvements identified by the thematic review to enhance their clients’ retirement income advice outcomes.

  • Income withdrawals: Use personalised approaches and justified methods for income withdrawals tailored to individual circumstances
  • Risk profiling: Evidence-based risk assessments aligned with client objectives and knowledge.
  • Customer information: Gather necessary data to demonstrate advice suitability 
  • Periodic Reviews: Consistently deliver relevant periodic reviews to customers who have paid for ongoing advice.
  • Record-Keeping: Maintain accurate and sufficient records to assess customer outcomes and track service delivery.
A major emphasis should be placed on adopting an income risk profiling methodology based on income objectives, using a suitable income withdrawal method supported by realistic cash flow modelling, and evidencing your Centralised Retirement Proposition (CRP).
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How you can address the FCA’s findings

Our complete, end-to-end financial planning solution, EVPro, delivers a range of functionality to help you meet the new FCA requirements.

Use a suitable risk profiling methodology

What did the FCA say?

When transitioning from accumulation to decumulation, a client’s “Attitude to Risk” and “Capacity for loss” will change and need to be reassessed using an objective-based risk profiling methodology.

You should clearly document how client investment knowledge, experience, and understanding of investment risk have been established to support any advice recommendation you make.

      How EVPro helps

  • EVPro Risk offers tailored questionnaires for evaluating both growth and decumulation risk. 

  • Customise your own questions within the standard Capacity For Loss and Knowledge & Experience questionnaires.

 


  • Additionally, APIs are provided to implement a decumulation risk questionnaire.

Adopt realistic cashflow modelling techniques 

What did the FCA say?

Provide a clear picture of your clients' financial future, considering accurate client information, using justifiable rates of return, planning for uncertainty, improving customer understanding and evidencing clear outputs.

By doing so, you can identify potential risks and opportunities, allowing you to give more informed advice and make more effective retirement income planning decisions.

How EVPro helps

  • EVPro Goal delivers a comprehensive cash flow model for joint life, encompassing a variety of income and product types
  • Navigate the range of tax implications of different products and incomes.

  • Stay on top of market movements with a stochastic model that is updated quarterly, and set your own deterministic assumptions if needed
  • Visualise realistic forecasts in today’s prices while testing the robustness of your client plans with EVPro Solver

Evidence your Centralised Retirement Proposition (CRP)

What did the FCA say?

Your CRP must be well documented. This not only aids your advisers across the firm in consistently providing advice to a wide range of customer needs but also evidences the robustness of your advisory operations.

How EVPro helps

  • EVPro helps you offer consistent and accurate advice across digital and traditional platforms
  • Specify specific fund and product details in the settings area

  • You can adjust the clear mortality event set to suit your needs.
  • Show the risk of running out of money earlier than expected
  • A range of life expectancy probabilities will be available in July

Mastering FCA Retirement Income Advice Thematic Review

The FCA has emphasised the critical role of cashflow modelling in “safeguarding clients' financial well-being”.
 
In its recent Retirement Income Advice Thematic Review, the FCA highlighted prevalent errors and misconceptions surrounding cashflow modelling practices within advisory firms.
 
In this comprehensive guide, specifically designed for financial professionals, we’ll delve into the FCA’s significant findings and recommendations on cashflow modelling. These insights are crucial for your understanding and will enable you to seamlessly integrate these new requirements into your existing advice processes. By downloading the guide, you’ll:
  • Explore the pivotal role of cashflow modelling techniques.
  • Understand techniques and strategies that meet and exceed the FCA's expectations.
  • Discover ways to empower your advisers, instilling them with the confidence and capability to excel in retirement planning.
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Financial Planning Made Simple

EVPro is a complete, end-to-end financial planning solution for financial advisers and paraplanners that profiles client risk, builds cash flow plans, performs stress tests, reviews, and solves client problems.

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Sources

1 Life Beyond Work: The changing face of retirement Report 2023, BNY Mellon Investment Management

2 NextWealth: Guarding Financial Future Report, January 2024

Image credits 

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