Friends Life signs advice deal with FD

Friends Life will refer its customers in need of retirement advice to Foster Denovo in a bid to take advantage of the upcoming pension freedoms.

Under the deal, customers who contact Friends Life about their retirement options from 6 April will be referred to Foster Denovo if they request, or require financial advice unless they already have an adviser.

The announcement follows the news that Friends Life-owned network Sesame would close for investment advisers as part of its ongoing strategic review which started in February 2014.

Friends Life will also inform customers of their options to get in touch with Pensionwise or unbiased.co.uk.

Andrew Curran (pictured), Friends Life UK chief executive, said the introduction of the pension freedoms gives savers more choice but they may need regulated advice to ensure they make the most appropriate decisions.

‘Our new referral service with Foster Denovo enables us to offer our customers who do not have an adviser access to robust financial advice to support them with the important decisions they need to make about their retirement income.

‘Many of our customers do not have a relationship with a financial adviser so we want to ensure that they have access to quality professional advice.’

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