AJ Bell has launched a new retirement income solution to help financial advisers manage clients taking income in retirement. 

The AJ Bell Retirement Portfolio Service will be relevant for clients requiring a sustainable income in later life and is available via SIPP, ISA or general investment account.

AJ Bell says it will be particularly attractive to those drawing an income under the pension freedoms.

The new service offers advisers what the firm called “a fully managed Centralised Retirement Proposition” and is available for free, via the AJ Bell Investcentre platform. 

Designed in conjunction with advisers from around the UK, the service combines four strategies designed to prolong the longevity of portfolios in decumulation, whilst minimising sequencing risk.
 
The firm says sequencing risk can have an “extremely detrimental impact” on a portfolio if investments are sold at a loss. 

If investments are sold after a fall in value, the remaining funds need to work harder to make that loss up. 

This can be particularly damaging if those losses occur in the early years of retirement and can impair the longevity of the pension pot, AJ Bell says.
 
Kevin Doran, chief investment officer at AJ Bell, comments: “Given the popularity of the pension freedoms there is a real need for products and services that help advisers deliver an effective retirement proposition. 

“With income drawdown now the most popular retirement income option, advisers and their clients are having to get to grips with managing portfolios in the withdrawal phase and the specific challenge of sequencing risk.
 
“Our new Retirement Portfolio Service has been designed as a ready-made solution that enables advisers and their clients to focus on their income needs, without having to worry about the running of the underlying portfolio.

“The cash bucket will ensure they don’t have to sell investments at the wrong time and the yield generated by our two income funds should be able to support a sensible withdrawal strategy over the long term.”