2023: A review of 800+ case studies

Since September 2022, Regulated Advice has generated 800+ case studies that are suitable for an advisor to offer advice to. 

Enquiries are typically generated from a Google search, telephone qualified to ensure suitability and then matched to a local financial advisor using an online bidding system.

Independent & chartered advice 

From a total of 818 case studies, 39 enquiries or 5% specified that they wanted independent advice.  

At Regulated Advice, we provide access to both independent and restricted advice, with 62% of the advisors on the platform offering independent advice and 38% offering restricted advice.

Only 5 enquiries or 0.5% wanted chartered advice. Fewer than 400 firms in the UK have achieved chartered status. An Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning and a minimum of 5 years experience is required to achieve chartered status.

The most requested type of consultation

From a total of 818 case studies, ‘over the phone’ was the biggest type of consultation, with 516 enquiries making up 63% of all case studies. 

Out of the 516 enquiries, 194 or 37% were happy with remote advice meaning we can offer the enquiry to a wider selection of advisors. 

We booked 302 appointments as ‘face to face’ appointments representing 37% of all case studies.

The most common area of advice

The following table illustrates the most common broad areas of advice. A case study often has more than one area of advice.

Pensions & retirement 477

Investments & savings 392

Financial planning 140

Inheritance tax planning 63

Final salary pension schemes 25

Mortgage & remortgage 9

Insurance & protection 7

Most common providers

The following 2 tables illustrates the most common personal pension providers recorded. 

Personal pension / GPP providers	Number of cases mentioned
Aviva	73
Scottish Widows	61
Standard Life	47
Prudential	44
Royal London	42
Legal & General	30
Phoenix Life	16
Nest (auto-enrolment)	15
Zurich	10
Sun Life Canada	5
Peoples Pension (auto-enrolment)	4

 

Top 7 overall rank

#1 ISA

ISAs were mentioned in 102 or 26% of Investment & Savings cases.

An Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a tax-efficient savings or investment account in the UK. 

It allows you to save or invest money without paying income tax or capital gains tax on the returns. There are different types of ISAs, including Cash ISAs and Stocks and Shares ISAs. 

The advantage of an ISA is that any income or capital gains generated within the account are tax-free. 

#2 Tax free cash/tax free lump sum

Tax free cash or tax free lump sum was mentioned in 102 or 21% of pensions & retirement cases.

When individuals reach the age of 55, they are typically able to take up to 25% of their pension savings as a tax-free lump sum.

This lump sum is known as the "tax-free cash” (TFC). Any further withdrawals from the pension pot beyond the tax-free amount above your allowance may be subject to income tax. 

#3 Flexible income drawdown

Flexible income drawdown was mentioned in 73 or 15% of pension & retirement cases.

The introduction of pension freedom under the Pension Schemes Act 2015, which came into force in April 2015 has provided individuals with more flexibility, allowing them to cash in their pension pot or reinvest it instead of being obligated to purchase an annuity. 

#4 Final salary 

DB schemes or final salary schemes were mentioned in 58 or 12% of pension and retirement cases.

The calculation of a final salary pension is tied to the length of service and the salary and not how much is paid into a pension pot.  

#5 SIPP

SIPP was mentioned in 39 or 8% of pension & retirement cases.

A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is essentially a personal pension where you get to choose what is invested into the SIPP. 

With a conventional personal pension, the fund choices are either made by the provider (usually a default fund of stock, bonds and cash) or by a financial advisor.

#6 Annuity

An annuity was mentioned in 33 or 7% of pension & retirement cases.

An annuity is an income you can purchase for the rest of your life and is primarily dependent on the interest rates set at the time of the money purchase.

#7 SERPS

SERPS was mentioned in 9 or 1.8% of pension & Retirement cases.

The state earnings related pension scheme (SERPS) was introduced in the 1970s as a top-up to the basic state pension and was later replaced by the second state pension, which ran until 2016.

Get expert advice

Whether you want advice on an ISA, tax free cash, flexible income drawdown, final salary, SIPP, an annuity, or a SERPS, Any decision needs to be based on a careful, expert assessment of all circumstances. Let Regulated Advice match you with a financial advisor for expert advice.