Aviva is to enter the pension advisory space with the launch of a face-to-face advice arm by the end of the year.
The new service will be aimed at existing Aviva customers and will initially focus on at retirement products, such as flexi-access drawdown and annuities, followed by pension and savings products. Aviva advisers will only offer advice on Aviva products. The service will integrate with Aviva’s existing digital offering, including its self-serve consumer platform and online retirement planning tools.
Aviva says it plans to have a team of face-to-face advisers in place by the end of 2016.
Aviva client advice director Andy Barton says: “The introduction of the pension freedoms means that thousands of people are facing important decisions about their financial futures. With this in mind, we are developing an in-house advice team to complement our existing channels and provide our customers with the support they need.
“Customers can already buy our products through independent financial advisers, high street banks, and direct via the internet or over the phone, so this latest initiative will give them even greater freedom and choice.
“We take great care to ask customers if they already have a financial adviser, and if so we recommend that they speak to them in the first instance.”