Consultants and advisers want to work with providers that can help them deliver added value benefits to their employer clients. Those providers that have developed tools with which intermediaries can interact with their clients have developed strong relationships.
Providers’ ability to connect with intermediaries through single sign-on will continue to be a key differentiator, particularly amongst those intermediaries looking to develop deep technology-rich propositions to increase engagement and improve employee financial wellbeing. Facilitating adviser charging is not surprisingly seen as a must-have for providers by advisers.
The ability to offer real-time digital access to fund values, something that is commonplace for contract-based schemes plugged into daily priced asset platforms but less so amongst trust-based arrangements, is something that will increasingly be seen as a minimum requirement of a provider. Four out of five consultants and advisers (80 per cent) believe it is essential for pension schemes to be able to offer real-tie access to fund values.
