Investment - Articles - Scottish Widows confirms RDR solutions across all products

 Scottish Widows has today announced further updates across its products ahead of the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review, delivering transparent and flexible charging solutions for advisers and their clients.

 New business can now be applied for on an RDR charging basis for both corporate pensions and the companies' individual pension product - Retirement Account. Adviser charging functionality will also be available on the majority of annuity products. In addition, Scottish Widows has announced a fully compliant factory gate priced investment bond.

 For top-ups to existing plans across individual pensions and investment products post RDR, Scottish Widows has developed a range of practical approaches to allow both advised and non-advised top-ups.

 A significant investment has also been made to further enhance our e-commerce offering in order to make it easier for advisers by improving back office integration and servicing efficiency, which in turn will help reduce administration costs.

 Robert Kerr, Head of Distribution Development at Scottish Widows, said:

 "For advisers and providers alike, ensuring we are all ready for RDR has been a significant challenge. Through this journey we have supported advisers though examination support, training, seminars, and regular updates on emerging policy.

 "We have delivered a range of RDR compliant products and changes to existing products that we believe maximises the options available to advisers when agreeing charges with consumers that meet both their needs. The scale of the change we have introduced goes far beyond what is required to be RDR compliant. These additional changes highlight our continued commitment to the intermediary market and the opportunities that lie ahead."