The global bank, which is the UK’s second biggest company with a market cap of £135bn, says it will no longer look to distribute corporate pensions through intermediaries. Launched in November 2010, HSBC Workplace Retirement Services had vowed become a leading pensions provider within five years. Its adviser distribution team has now been disbanded.
The provider had invested in a new investment-only platform, called Fund Platform, aimed at trust-based pension schemes offering straight through processing, open architecture and access to HSBC’s target date Protected Retirement Funds.
The bank says it will still continue to offer an auto-enrolment proposition to its 1.2m business banking clients.
A spokesman for HSBC says: “Following a review of the business we have made the decision to no longer distribute our service through external IFAs. However it is our intention to continue to offer our commercial banking clients a workplace pension proposition.”
