For immediate release: Friday, 28 November 2014
NINE OUT OF TEN ADVISERS PLAN TO ADVISE ON AUTO ENROLMENT IN 2015
As 2015 steadily approaches and 1.2 million* small and micro businesses draw closer to their staging
dates, new research conducted by independent financial researcher Defaqto on behalf of NOW:
Pensions reveals that advisers are gearing themselves up for the business opportunity that auto
enrolment presents.
Nine out of ten (88%) advisers who are currently advising small and medium sized companies on auto
enrolment plan to continue doing so in 2015 when micro businesses will begin staging. Over half of the
advisers surveyed (51%) think that auto enrolment represents a good opportunity for them to grow their
business over the long term, with three quarters (76%) seeing it as a chance to both advise existing
clients as well as grow a new client base.
Over two in three (68%) advisers expect to be providing employers with advice on selecting a pension
provider, while 72% expect to be advising them for the staging date, and 78% expect their services to
be required on an ongoing basis after the staging date has passed. Seven out of ten (73%) believe they
will need to advise on other corporate issues such as business protection insurance.
Neil Liversidge, Managing Director, West Riding Personal Finance Solutions said: "The need for
help and advice around auto enrolment naturally brings together business owners, their employees,
and advisers. As such it probably represents the single greatest opportunity most firms will have to
generate new clients this decade."
However, not all advisers seem to be in agreement, as nearly one in five (17%) of the 244 advisers
questioned, do not intend to advise small and micro businesses on auto enrolment next year. Of these
advisers, over half (55%) say they don’t think it will offer profitable business, while 28% believe there is
too much admin involved, and 25% are deterred by how much time it will take. One in ten (10%) don’t
believe they have the right knowledge to advise on it.
Additionally, two in three (66%) advisers say that from their experience so far, employers are either not
that engaged or not engaged at all with auto enrolment, while the same can be said for 83% of
employees.
Morten Nilsson, CEO of NOW: Pensions said: “A large portion of employers are still burying their
heads in the sand about auto enrolment. Advisers have a vital role in supporting smaller employers
through the auto enrolment process and with so many employers staging, there is a huge opportunity
for them to expand their client base and grow their business.”
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Ends
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For further information:
Amy Mankelow
NOW: Pensions
Tel: 020 3640 9075
[email protected]
Valentina Kristensen
Lansons Communications
Tel: +44 207 566 9720
[email protected]
Notes for editors:
Research conducted online by Defaqto in August 2014.
*Source: Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254552/13-92business-population-estimates-2013-stats-release-4.pdf
NOW: Pensions www.nowpensions.com @nowpensions
NOW: Pensions is an independent, multi-employer trust serving thousands of employers
and hundreds of thousands of employees from a wide range of sectors.
A subsidiary of one of Europe’s largest pension funds, Danish pension scheme ATP, NOW: Pensions
offers a simple and cost effective workplace pension solution direct to employers and via advisers and
the payroll sector.
In April 2013, NOW: Pensions became the first master trust to attain the NAPF’s new PQM Ready
Standard. The benchmark shows employers that NOW: Pensions is a well governed pension scheme
with low charges and good member communications.
The NOW: Pension Trustee Directors, whose role is to safeguard the interests of members, comprises
well-known industry figures with different areas of expertise:
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Jocelyn Blackwell, founding partner Dunnett Shaw
Christopher Daykin, former Government Actuary
John Monks, member of House of Lords and former General Secretary of ETUC and TUC
Win Robbins, former Head of European Fixed Income at Barclays Global Investors
Nigel Waterson, former Shadow Pensions Minister
Charges are just £1.50 per month administration charge (reduced administration charge of £0.30 - £1.00
to be applied during auto enrolment phasing for lower earners) plus a 0.3% annual product investment
management charge, with no hidden charges.
Defaqto www.defaqto.com/advisers @DefaqtoAdviser
Defaqto is an independent researcher of financial products, focused on providing intelligence to
support better decision-making. At its heart is the UK’s largest retail financial product and fund
database which it maintains by collecting data from across the whole market, and uses its expertise
and insight to analyse this data and make it comparable.
From this, Defaqto creates a range of products and services – ratings, software solutions, consultancy
services, data services, and publications and events – to deliver this information in a meaningful way.
Defaqto’s intelligence facilitates better financial decisions and greater effectiveness in the creation,
management and distribution of financial products.