Scottish Widows has rolled out the latest series of upgrades to its platform, part of a three-year project which will see it invest £180m into enhanced functionality and service for its advisers.
The latest enhancement includes offering a dripfeed drawdown option – to enable advisers’ clients to take regular income from their pension in a flexible and tax efficient way.
Scottish Widows is also offering a new set of five managed growth funds, which offer different levels of risk and rewards, streamlined platform charges and information as well as platform user experience improvements, which include a refreshed customer dashboard and easier to schedule withdrawals.
Further updates to the platform have been delivered via new integrations with partner tools, including Oxford Risk’s Investor Compass, an end-to-end investment suitability software tool.
Scottish Widows says it is prioritising an experience-led approach to supporting financial advisers. It says future updates will aim to make it easier for advisers to do business, enhance client relationships and navigate upcoming regulatory change.
Specific updates will also include the introduction of a new multi-asset fund range, smoothed funds, and the development of an onshore bond.
Scottish Widows managing director workplace and intermediary wealth Graeme Bold says: “We’ve introduced a raft of changes since the start of the year with even more planned for H2.
“We’re driven by our commitment to invest for the long term so that advisers can have confidence in working with us to support their clients and build their businesses.
“Working with and listening to advisers, we’re putting the user experience at the heart of everything we do, and we aim to deliver with practical solutions to make a real difference.”
