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FCA tools to improve retirement market

Kit Klarenberg
Written By:
Kit Klarenberg
Posted:
Updated:
26/03/2015

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today confirmed it will proceed with the recommendations outlined in its retirement income market study last December.

In the report, the FCA identified a number of concerns over consumer choice in the retirement market, and proposed solutions designed to remedy them. “The majority of respondents to the consultation agreed with our analysis of the market and the suggested remedies,” a spokesperson for the FCA notes.

The report can be viewed in full here, but key proposals include;

  • Requiring firms to provide annuity quotation rankings, so consumers can identify if they could get a better deal by shopping around
  • Redesigning and road-testing the information that consumers receive from their providers, such as wake up packs, in the run up to their retirement
  • Creating a pensions dashboard allowing consumers to see all their pension pots in one place

Further consultation on annuity comparisons and the replacement of the wake-up packs is scheduled to take place as part of the FCA’s policy work in the retirement income market this year.

The FCA has already begun work on designing the behavioural trials that will be carried out with consumers; the results of these trials will inform further rule changes.

“The retirement income market is set for the biggest change in a generation,” said Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the FCA. “Over the next 12 months we want to ensure that the market is fit for purpose in the new landscape.”

“We received considerable support for our proposals and we will be working with Government and the industry to implement all of our recommendations so that consumers can have confidence that they are getting the best possible outcome when making decisions on their retirement income.”

 


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