The ongoing debacle over Brexit dominates pretty much everything right now, but there is something on the horizon worth noting.
During the last decade, but more noticeably the past couple of years, there has been an increasing focus on socially responsible investing in the retirement space.
Although funds like the evergreen Friends Provident Stewardship fund in early 1984 kicked off the move to think responsibly when taking a longer term view on investing for retirement planning in the retail space, the impetus has been further strengthened by other providers such as Aviva, Royal London and Standard Life getting involved.
What I believe we are seeing is a growing acceptance in investor thinking towards a strategy that can accumulate value in investments while at the same time making a positive contribution to society and the environment around us. The penny is starting to drop for many people as they start to engage with the idea that there is a FTSE4Good index as well as a FTSE All Share index.
Alongside this has been the move to get investors to think about pension planning as a positive activity and not just as an onerous chore to try and avoid the misery of penury beyond working age, when ill health may put an end to earning capabilities.
Strange as it may seem, the Retail Distribution Review which came into force over five years ago, brought with it a much-needed shift away from transactional advice and products and towards solution-based advice.
Much still needs to be done of course, but the UK population is on the journey so to speak.
The seemingly unstoppable increase in the use of platforms and online providers can also only help to make private pension planning accessible to everybody.
While the gathering of information at the click of a mouse on ‘matters retirement’ has never been easier, the individual still has to take action and the best way for them to do that is to work with an IFA to plan ahead for retirement.
Nick McBreen is an IFA at Worldwide Financial Planning
