The government-backed pension advisory Pension Wise says its users are more likely to use a financial adviser after taking guidance from the service.

The organisation says that following an appointment with Pension Wise, 34% of ‘appointment customers’ speak to a financial adviser versus 26% of non-users.

The organisation says that following appointments people report feeling more confident about understanding and using their pension pots and are more likely to shop around and seek further information. 

Pension Wise provided 167,000 ‘interactions’ with pension savers in 2018/19 including 130,000 face-to-face or telephone appointments compared with 87,000 in 2017/18. 

Pension Wise extended its reach to more customers through a new digital self-service offering which was used by 37,000 people in 2018/19.  

The service has reported growing demand for its guidance with a 49% rise in appointments over the past year and a steady rise over the past 5 years.

Pension Wise Transactions by year of operation    

*Includes digital self-service offering. Source: Pension Wise

An evaluation by Pension Wise shows that ‘appointment customers’ are most likely to hear about Pension Wise through their pension provider (56%).

Trials are under way to assess the best way to persuade people to take guidance from Pension Wise before accessing pension savings.  

The service is run by the new government-supported Money and Pensions Service.

Carolyn Jones, head of pensions policy and strategy at MAPS, said:  “It is crucial people make the right decisions for their circumstances, so it’s great to see so many customers feeling empowered by our Pension Wise service. 

“We are committed to increasing the usage of Pension Wise and continuing to improve the service for customers.”