Nine in ten (90 per cent) pension professionals said that property has a role to play in supporting individuals’ retirement income, in polling at a recent Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) event.

The poll was conducted at an event focused on lifetime savings beyond pensions, attended by almost 200 pension professionals.

Speakers at the event included representatives from the Equity Release Council, Nest Insight, the Pensions Management Institute and Hymans Robertson.

In another polling question, almost half of the respondents (46 per cent) said they thought pensions should play a broader role in supporting an individual’s overall financial needs, with 28 per cent voting for pensions playing a limited role, with careful design, 22 per cent who were open minded, and only 4 per cent who said that pensions should not play a broader role at all.

Chairing the event, SPP council member, Calum Cooper, said the polling demonstrated an “increasing recognition” that people may need to draw on “a range of assets and savings vehicles” to achieve the standard of living they would like in retirement, rather than solely relying on pensions.

“These findings also indicate significant support for the pensions ecosystem to evolve in a way that better reflects people’s wider financial needs, while still maintaining their core purpose of providing a sustainable retirement income,” he continued.

“Of course, any pathway to achieving this will take great care and skill,” Cooper added.

Polling at previous SSP events covered topics including pensions dashboards and the use of artificial intelligence.

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