Adviser platform 7IM has previewed its new retirement income solution ahead of an official launch of the product next month.
In a demo at FTRC's Empowering Advice Through Technology event in Kings Cross yesterday (January 26), 7IM's platform sales head Peter Wyatt shared a snapshot of the solution, which plugs into 7IM's platform.
It addresses common risks facing advisers and their clients, such as money running out in a client's lifetime- also known as ‘longevity risk’ - and sequencing risk, which is when markets can drive down assets over time.
The service, set to launch officially on February 23, allows advisers to play around with different types of variable income, and add custom expenditures - such as holidays and school fees.
They can then select different types of products based on these incomes and expenditures to see what the client would end up with.
One product is the secure lifetime income which 7IM has recently partnered with Just Group to offer on its platform.
The adviser can also enter their fees into the system so any outcome deducts this from the final values.
The system then produces a number of dials and graphs, showing how a client's income will last over time and the range of outcomes depending on market conditions.
Advisers can also pull a 9-page report, which includes a balance portfolio breakdown, showing asset value in cash, as well as over the short, mid and long-term.
A still from Peter Wyatt's demo at The Pullman Hotel
With the Financial Conduct Authority's review into retirement income advice, Wyatt said this was a space ripe for new solutions that offer more granular breakdowns.
The FCA signalled in October it was "increasingly turning" its focus to retirement income strategies following its work on defined benefit pension transfers in recent years.
Speaking about 7IM's latest product, Wyatt said: "This solution gives advisers a view of risk. It's a robust and repeatable process. We believe this is long overdue, a tool like this which integrates into a platform."
Managing director at 7IM Intermediary, Verona Kenny, has spoken openly about the need for platforms to innovate to solve the "retirement puzzle" facing pensioners who are able to flexibly draw down savings since pension freedoms.
Back in April 2015, pension freedoms legislation came into force allowing savers to access their defined contribution pension from the age of 55 and use the funds for a wider range of options, including cash withdrawal, retirement income products or a combination of the two.
Kenny told FTAdviser at the end of last year: "If, as an industry, we fail to bring about the change people want and need, how many of the next generation of retirees will end up having regrets?"
"We therefore need to get it together as an industry, and we need to do it soon (clients have already had to wait over seven years), to really deliver clients the flexible income solutions they need in retirement.
