Pension service review shows mixed bag with the performance of providers

Our latest pension service review helps advisers compare their own personal experiences of pension providers with those of their peers, and enables them to select partners with service as one of their research criteria. 

What did we look at?

The survey measured the relative importance of seven satisfaction categories, and identified the advisers’ preferred providers of individual pension business.

In order to identify where expectations were being met, we then measured how satisfied the advisers were with their preferred providers, and cross matched ranked importance, to ranked satisfaction.

A continued trend

The ranked order of importance of the seven satisfaction categories has remained relatively consistent, though provider strength and brand has fallen since 2017.

As in 2016 and 2017, personal pensions, drawdown and SIPPs are the most recommended types of pension product, and in the same order of preference, showing a continued trend. Hybrid and blended solutions have become slightly more popular than last year, with the remaining products staying the same.

Despite pension freedoms, conventional annuities are still being recommended consistently, showing their continued importance in retirement planning where a guaranteed level of income is still a priority.

Mixed bag of performance

It is very much a mixed bag with regards to the performance of providers for each of the seven satisfaction categories, based on their ranked order of importance.

Three of the categories are below expectations, and three are above, based on the number of above average scores awarded by advisers. Only new business servicing met expectations exactly. It is interesting to note that freedom servicing is seen as the most important aspect of service but according to the survey, it is performing below expectations.

“Overall satisfaction remains largely unchanged in comparison to 2017. However, there is still work for providers to do in some of the service categories when it comes to bridging the gaps between service and expectations”, David Cartwright, Head of Insight and Consulting for Wealth and Protection at Defaqto, comments. “Results of the survey have shown that providers will need to consider the service they are offering and why advisers (or perhaps advisers’ clients) are not completely satisfied with how they are performing in certain areas” he adds.

Want to learn more?

For more details, including the individual satisfaction scores, download our 2019 Pension Service Review for free here.

About Service Ratings

We use the results of the survey to rate providers Gold, Silver or Bronze based on their overall satisfaction score. These Service Ratings help advisers in choosing the appropriate provider partners for them as they are fully based on the feedback we receive. They are available to view and use within Defaqto Engage, our end-to-end financial planning solution.

You can learn more about Engage Core, our end-to-end financial planning tool, and request a demonstration, here

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