SOLLA founder Tish Hanifan said: “There is currently no independent consumer facing body working to establish industry standards in this area. With this in mind we believe that this is the right time to extend the current reach of the SOLLA brand to support this sector of the market.”

Tish Hanifan, also SOLLA Enterprises co-chairman said: “The new standard will have wide appeal, and emphasises not only technical expertise but also evidencing of working empathetically in the later life sector. Critically all Standard holders will sign up annually to a code of conduct that fully reflects the SOLLA brand values in this sector”.

Jane Finnerty, also co-chair of SOLLA and co-chair of SOLLA Enterprises, said: “We are particularly excited about this initiative. The changes to the retirement market are profound, and we intend that the word SOLLA will resonate with both consumers requiring either holistic advice in the later life market, or those who wish to concentrate purely on retirement planning.

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“We are expecting a good take up by our members, and we will offer the opportunity to acquire the Standard to all regulated advisers working in the retirement market later this year. The particular focus will be on those advising clients close to or already in retirement situations.”

Andrew Megson, managing director of Retirement at Partnership, which has worked with SOLLA for year, said: “We are very impressed with the way in which both the society and the SOLLA brand has evolved. The deployment of SOLLA standards in specific later life advice areas is an exciting development, and it will further help consumer confidence when seeking expert advice and guidance.”