The workplace should be used as a channel for passing on financial advice, The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has said.
In the response to the Thoresen Review (following an interim report on Generic Financial Advice) Otto Thoresen, chief executive at insurnace provider Aegon UK, said a generic advice regime for the investment industry would cost between £40m and £80m, to improve financial capability, with the cost to be split between government and industry.
Otto Thoresen was appointed by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to carry out a review of the feasibility of delivering a national approach to generic financial advice. The scheme would target about 19 million people, including around 7.5 million identified by the government as being most at risk from poor financial planning.
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the NAPF, said the idea of creating a national generic financial advice service was good news.
But she added: “It is important that his final review makes full use of the workplace as a channel for advice.
“Not only is it a low-cost option, but research repeatedly shows that employees trust the advice they receive there,” Segars pointed out.
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Thoresen said financial advice should be delivered in an environment clearly not linked to a product sale, and should offer a range of information and guidance, from jargon-busting to managing debt and budgeting.
He said advice should be preventive, helping people to take charge of their affairs before serious problems develop.
