Prudential has handled 12,200 adviser enquiries in first eight months of 2017 through its helpline, an increase of 20 per cent when compared to the same period in the previous year.
Understanding the lifetime allowance is still the most common reason why advisers are calling the helpline.
At this rate, the helpline is set to take 17,000 calls – breaking the 14,000-record set last year, when the same topic was champion of calls, Prudential reported.
According to a survey which polled 101 financial advisers nationwide, more than half of these professionals want a commitment from the government to making no further change to the retirement market.
Some 38 per cent of the advisers want the lifetime allowance abolished and nearly a third (30 per cent) want to see the abolition of the annual allowance.
According to Les Cameron, retirement expert at Prudential, the increasing number of calls highlights that advisers need support “to fully understand regulatory change and its implications for their clients”.
He said: “Topics advisers commonly request help with include inheritance tax, taxation of various tax wrappers, and trust issues – from trust administration to helping advisers identify what trusts may be suitable for their clients.
“Pensions planning is also proving problematic with advisers seeking help with annual allowance, lifetime allowance issues, tax relief and death benefit options.”
Mr Cameron added there is constant regulatory change in the world of financial planning, which means “more advisers need support to successfully navigate the rules”.
Prudential’s helpline has a team of 12 technical consultants and has been operating in its current format for more than 10 years.
Alan Chan, director and chartered financial planner at London-based IFS Wealth & Pensions, said that he has used Prudential’s helpline in the past.
He said: "[We used them] mainly to get a second opinion and confirm what we already know, and [they] have generally been good.
“It is inevitable that pension planning has become more difficult and complex as a result of the constant tinkering by the government to raise tax revenues.
“I would absolutely support calls for a period of stability from the government with little or no changes to pensions.”
According to Jonothan McColgan, director and chartered financial planner at Bath-based Combined Financial Strategies, the lifetime allowance is pretty straightforward if it is applied to defined contribution (DC) or personal pensions.
He said: “I think what advisers are calling for a little bit of help on is when clients have existing protections in place - or want to set out protections -, and they want to understand the process.
“When the client has a [defined benefit] DB transfer or a DB scheme, and they are trying to calculate the impact of that in the lifetime allowance, there is when it gets more complicated.”
maria.espadinha@ft.com
