The proportion of people seeking advice before accessing their pension for the first time has fallen again, according to the latest data from the Financial Conduct Authority.
These figures show that of the 962,000 pension plans accessed for the first time in the 2024/25 tax year, less than a third (31 per cent) of holder sought regulated financial advice.
This widening advice gap was particularly clear when it came to the drawdown market. The FCA figures show less than half (45 per cent) of those accessing drawdown plans for the first time sought financial advice. In total there were 350,000 drawdown plans accessed for the first time during this period.
The data shows that in the 2018/19 tax year 66 per cent of those accessing drawdown for first time accessed financial advice, but this number had fallen for six consecutive years.
The number of pots accessed after using the free, independent and impartial Pension Wise accounted for one in 10 (11 per cent) of pots accessed.
Just Group communications director Stephen Lowe says: “The figures show a 9 per cent rise in pensions accessed to 961,575 which was largely driven by a 25 per cent rise in drawdown plans to 349,992.
“While the numbers accessing pensions and using advice are up, the proportion of customers using advice has fallen for each withdrawal option since last year. The downward trend in use of advice for drawdown over time is particularly obvious and should be seen as a red flag.”