Scottish Widows has launched a new guide offering additional support for advisers who feel their service would benefit from more support when planning retirement income for their clients.

The provider’s Centralised Retirement Proposition (CRP) guide covers the ‘at retirement’ and ‘in retirement’ stages when a customer draws down their savings. It brings together key themes that have become familiar to many advisers since Pension Freedoms were introduced, and presents them as a structured retirement income guidance journey. It is designed to be a thorough overview of the entire subject of retirement income planning.

Ronnie Taylor, director of distribution at Scottish Widows, said: “Pension Freedoms have offered customers far greater choice and flexibility. However, this also means advisers are now taking on even greater responsibility for the retirement options they recommend, particularly when it comes to sustainable withdrawal strategies that aim to stop their clients running out of money. We have developed the guide to serve as an additional point of reference to help advisers meet the diverse needs of today’s clients.”

The guide offers an overview of all elements that make up planning for retirement income. The key stages are:

• Retirement income fact-find: Understanding the relevant client income objectives, circumstances and financial situations.
• Risk assessment: The assessment of the ability and willingness to take risk matched to the client circumstances and objectives.
• Withdrawal options: The optimal way to withdraw money from a pension fund to meet the retirement income objectives.
• Investment strategy: The selection of a suitable investment approach to best match the objectives of income and risk.
• Ongoing review: The ongoing maintenance to manage changing needs, income access, and sustainability.

Scottish Widows’ CRP development guide is the latest in a number of technical guides and reference materials created by the provider. In April this year, the company developed a digital toolkit for advisers who wanted more support and guidance around the Defined Benefit process. Scottish Widows also produces a monthly TechTalk magazine, where its technical experts share their guidance around key topics affecting the industry, regulatory changes and much more.