For Kenny there is a particular need for more solutions that offer all the pieces of the "retirement puzzle" and enable financial advisers to put these together in the most appropriate way for each client.
7IM has developed a retirement income solution that allows advisers to use a self-invested personal pension, a general investment account and an Isa as a single portfolio aligned with a client's risk profile.
The client's assets are then allocated into a series of ‘buckets’ invested across three time horizons, and in a link up with provider Just, there is also the possibility to pay a secure lifetime income into the Sipp to enable a degree of guaranteed income.
But more innovation is needed industry-wide, she says. "Working together has started now; advisers, providers and platforms are looking up and down the distribution chain with a focus on the ultimate delivery to the end client – this is exciting to see but it cannot end once we hit the consumer duty deadlines, we need to continue to evolve together."
Openwork’s wealth proposition director David Owen says these sorts of flexible tools are “really useful for advisers and clients.
“You've got an aggregation of most your financial assets. You've got money market funds for cash accounts, you've got the 7IM investments on there, and then you've also got your Just SLI, which makes things more simple."
Most experts agree having a centralised retirement proposition can help advisers deliver good outcomes, though it needs to be adaptable to the individual client’s needs as well as their changing circumstances. It can not be a one-product-fits-all solution.
“The key difference between a CIP and a CRP is the need to produce short-term money, whether this be a regular income or a specified pattern of one-off withdrawals,” says Tait.
"Most accumulation strategies are focused on the medium to long term and do not include provision for this, whereas a decumulation strategy will not only include suitable assets, but is also likely to be highly specific to the individual client.”
Kenny says many advisers understand that adopting a CRP can have significant advantages. Yet research shows a mere 55 per cent of advice firms have one in place today.
She says a one-product-fits-all solution does not exist, instead 7IM sees the CRP as a framework "that is much wider than simply the investment strategy for a client.
