Here are the key pension freedom trends so far.

• Drawdown is the dominant theme – over three in five calls (61 per cent) into the telephony teams are from customers who want to enter drawdown and take tax free cash to access income under the new pension rules
• Transfer of defined benefits a growing theme – nearly one in ten (7 per cent) of those calling are DB clients wanting advice on how they can benefit from the new flexibilities. However, the requirement for advice is frustrating some customers who just want to take their cash which reflects a broader misunderstanding of the value of DB benefits

• Half of drawdown customers are deferring income – many customers are just taking their tax free cash and putting off taking income until a later date.
• Changes to Lifetime Allowance are impacting more customers – more customers are contacting us for advice around the Life Time Allowance with an equal split between those who are concerned about the £1m reduction and looking for protection and those who are already over the Lifetime Allowance limit and want to know their options.
• Cashing out not really a big issue – just 6 per cent want to cash out of which small pots make up half this statistic.
• Annuities are still on the agenda but as many people want “out” as want “in” – 3 per cent of customers are enquiring about cashing in their annuity  while a further 3 per cent of callers have an interest in purchasing one.

• US citizens present challenge to the pensions industry – due to rules and regulations that create restrictions for this group, US citizens who need help on how to access their pension are difficult or impossible to deal with.
• Starting them young – the freedoms have pushed pensions up the agenda of some yet sadly we are unable to help as they are not old enough to take benefits.
• Exploring options as people window shop – 10 per cent of calls are from people calling to ask for help and just explore their options.
• Fidelity is seeing increasing benefit from freedom restrictions elsewhere – a growing number of clients are looking to transfer their funds to Fidelity as the ceding company does not offer the freedoms.

“We have seen a definite shift among our customers who want to focus more on exploring their options and getting the necessary information,” said Richard Parkin, head of retirement at Fidelity Worldwide Investment.

“However, the Chancellor’s suggestion that people should use their pension pots as their bank accounts has not proven overly helpful, with some customers misunderstanding that investments need to be sold and processed before any funds can be made available.

“While the freedoms have made pension saving in the UK more talked about, we are getting a significant amount of queries from people who purely want to transfer into our SIPP as they cannot access the flexibilities through their existing provider. Luckily these people are seeking a legitimate route to get their funds but some people in this situation may fall prey to fraudsters who seem to offer them a quick solution. We urge any consumer approaching retirement to never be tempted by a cold approach from someone claiming to help them with their pension.”