Fidelity International head of client solutions and retirement Richard Dinham said recent research undertaken by Fidelity shows that retirees receiving advice are generally much happier and confident and feel a greater sense of wellbeing by having a plan and structure in place.
“That’s a great reflection of financial advisers. Those who weren’t receiving advice [one the other hand] generally felt less confident and were less well informed compared with those who had received advice,” Mr Dinham told SMSF Adviser.
However, one of the other observations that emerged from the research, which was based on a survey conducted with around 1,500 retirees, was that there are still few advisers using retirement-specific products, he said.
“While the research showed that advisers are adjusting their advice approach for those in retirement, and generally using a range of approaches such as bucketing strategies, income products or more conservative products, one thing that emerged was that few advisers were using retirement specific products or solutions at this point in time,” Mr Dinham said.
“I think this is due to the fact that historically there hasn’t been that many to [choose] from, but nevertheless, by using products and solutions designed specifically for retirement, it could be possible to improve outcomes in retirement so that’s probably an area for improvement.”
Mr Dinham said there had been increasing focus on retirement planning recently, particularly from the government with its reviews in this area.
“[We’ve seen] the Retirement Income Review that was published just over a year ago, then there was the Retirement Income Covenant which applies mainly to super funds and there was also the Intergenerational Report released last year,” he said.
“Those bodies of work have helped raise awareness and interest in retirement. I think we’ll also see greater knowledge and experience build as advisers become more aware of what is available.”
