Prudential is launching a new pension account that facilitates saving and withdrawing from a pension without having to cash in or cancel the whole account.
Called Retirement Account, the product is designed to help investors, save for their retirement, provide an income in retirement and offer to access their fund as they save.
The new personal pension and income drawdown plan will be sold on an advised basis. Prudential says it has been designed to offer advisers and their clients a range of retirement planning options that are in line with the flexibilities introduced by the pension freedom reforms.
The Prudential Retirement Account gives access to over 500 external funds from a choice of fund managers, including a range of ready-made portfolios from Prudential’s OEIC range of Dynamic and Dynamic Focused Portfolios, as well as Prudential’s PruFund range of smoothed funds. Access to exchange-listed stocks and shares investment through stockbrokers is also offered.
Prudential’s new Retirement Account also comes with two optional guarantees that offer both capital and minimum income guarantees, for those who select PruFunds as an investment option.
The capital guarantee is available on investments in selected PruFunds and provides the option to secure some or all of the capital sum invested at a specified date.
The minimum income guarantee provides ensures investors they will always be paid at least Charges range between 0.25 and 0.65 per cent with investment and optional guarantee charges applying separately.
Prudential CEO distribution John Warburton says: “Retirement planning today is all about being able to keep your options open, knowing that you have the flexibility to adapt financially as your circumstances change in the future. Significant steps have been taken to banish the rigid pension savings framework that previously existed and, with the introduction of the Retirement Account, we have created a fully flexible way for customers to save for and secure an income in retirement.
“Pension freedom has made the concept of saving into a pension more attractive by handing increased control to individuals over how they manage and access their retirement savings. Having first re-worked our existing products to facilitate certain aspects of pension freedom, today we have gone further by creating a comprehensive retirement plan which gives savers all the flexibility and freedom they need to prepare for and then securely enjoy their retirement.”