Standard Life and Fidelity International have partnered to launch the Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan.
The plan is designed to provide an easy and flexible way for advisers to help their clients meet essential living costs in retirement. It marks the second development to be launched as part of the strategic partnership between the two companies.
The plan pays an individually underwritten guaranteed income for life, with the added benefit of being held within an individual’s drawdown account alongside other drawdown investment solutions. This means advisers can offer a guaranteed income for their clients on platform in a way that aligns with their existing advice processes as part of their wider withdrawal strategy, the pair said.
It also makes it easier to acquire “tranches” of guaranteed income throughout the client review process which enables clients to take advantage of higher rates as they age and progress through retirement.
Additionally, any income from the plan that isn’t required for withdrawal can be held within the drawdown cash account or be re-invested into the investment options available on the platform.
Claire Altman, managing director of individual retirement at Standard Life, said: “The nature of retirement is evolving. People have more nuanced retirement journeys, with different needs at different life stages, which necessitates a range of different income solutions.
“Having certainty of income can be a valuable part of this mix, providing a guaranteed income for life, however people also want to maintain a degree of flexibility. The launch of the Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan addresses this need. Clients are able to decide the amount of income they want to receive and when so they don’t have to sacrifice flexibility, while giving advisers the ability to simply and efficiently manage a guaranteed income for their clients on platform with drawdown funds.”
The Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan now sits alongside the Standard Life Smoothed Return Pension Fund on the Fidelity Adviser Solutions platform.
Jeff Harris, head of distribution, global platform solutions, at Fidelity International, commented: “The strategic partnership between Fidelity and Standard Life has allowed us to combine our collective experience to enable the development of innovative solutions which cater to the needs of those approaching and in retirement.
“With people living longer and spending longer in retirement than ever before, the need for flexible solutions which allow advisers to help clients live, save, and spend is fundamental. Our continued partnership with Standard Life presents further opportunities to bring together our respective expertise as we respond to this challenge.”
Standard Life has worked with adviser software providers CashCalc, Defaqto, and Dynamic Planner to ensure the plan is built into existing advice processes including client profiling and cash flow modelling tools to build a more seamless journey for advisers and their clients.
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