Accountants, you can recommend a workplace pension to your clients

And it’s a great way to strengthen your relationships

It’s a widespread misconception that helping your clients reassess their workplace pension scheme – or even recommending a specific provider – constitutes financial advice. But that's not the case!

Advising employers on workplace pension scheme selection is not regulated advice. Don’t believe us? We’ve broken down the advice from The Pension Regulator. Find out what it means for you.

The Truth: You Can Advise Your Clients on Their Workplace Scheme

According to The Pensions Regulator, you can provide advice to employers choosing a pension scheme by:

  • providing factual information
  • helping them to compare schemes
  • making a recommendation

See for yourself! You’re free to do this without stepping into FCA-regulated territory:

A section of the The Pension Regulator's website with three lines highlighted in pink: "you can either provide advice or information to them yourself," "you can provide investment advice to employers choosing a pension scheme," "providing factual information, helping them to compare schemes, making a recommendation".

What You Can’t Do: Provide Advice to Individuals

Great news, right?! But there are restrictions to be aware of. You can’t:

  • Provide this advice to individuals – that’s FCA regulated
  • Choose an employer’s scheme on their behalf without appropriate permission

See the relevant information highlighted below:

A section of the The Pension Regulator's website with two lines highlighted in pink: "you need to be authorised to provide advice to individuals", "it's the employer's legal responsibility to choose a pension scheme".

What Support Can You Provide Your Clients?

Many companies – potentially including your clients – are dissatisfied with their current auto-enrolment scheme but don't know where to start when selecting a new one.

It’s also good practice to review their workplace scheme regularly to make sure it’s still fit for purpose. And hiring a dedicated consultant to help with this can end up being very costly.

By stepping in with simple, clear guidance, you can provide a highly valued service that strengthens your client relationships. For starters, The Pension Regulator specifies some ways you can help your clients:

A section of The Pension Regulator's website with two lines highlighted in pink: "you could identify the pension schemes available and provide a comparison of the scheme's investment funds, charges and services", "recommend a specific pension scheme for automatic enrolment".

But there are so many ways to go above and beyond. At Penfold, we support many firms with the resources and materials they need to make these conversations easier, including:

  • Handy competitor comparisons
  • Webinars and in-person events
  • 1-1 sessions and FAQs
  • Five-minute guides and helpful brochures
  • Email templates

Strengthen Your Relationships with Penfold

Use our handy resources to guide your clients through their auto-enrolment obligations, helping them make informed decisions about their pension schemes that will benefit them and their employees.

Explore my partner tool kit or request more information

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