Pensions - Articles - Do not stop trustees helping members

 ACA Chair, Patrick Bloomfield commented: “Under the draft guidance, providing generic illustrative figures of the income a transfer value could provide will be deemed as giving regulated financial advice. This will mean schemes that go further than the statutory minimum to help members understand the value of their options will have to change their processes. It will hinder members’ ability to understand their options and make good decisions. Members needing basic help will be forced through a full regulated advice process, which can be prohibitively expensive.

 The ACA thinks this is a step backwards. Most members would benefit from simple information to see whether transferring out is likely to be worth exploring further or not. Members with defined benefits who want to pursue a transfer out have to take regulated financial advice before they can do so (unless their transfer value is worth less than £30,000). Given the safeguards in place, perfection is becoming the enemy of good, and a more common-sense approach to helping members is needed.”