Legal & General (L&G) has expanded its Guided Retirement Planner to support younger defined contribution (DC) members, after its research revealed that knowledge gaps are leaving financial carers' long-term security at risk.
 
Launched to those at retirement at the end of 2024, L&G said that more than 70,000 members aged 55+ have already begun using the planner, which is shown to have driven significant action underpinning L&G’s decision to expand it to younger members. In particular, L&G found that the planner had boosted retirement readiness amongst this group, reporting a 50 per cent reduction in members facing shortfalls after adjusting their plans. The expansion also comes after research from L&G found that knowledge gaps are leaving many financial carers' own long-term security at risk. The research revealed that while more than eight million UK adults – around 16 per cent of the population – now class themselves as financial carers, many are doing so without the knowledge needed: 25 per cent feel they understand how a pension works, and one in seven (15 per cent) say their lack of knowledge caused problems when trying to help. This is also posing a risk to carers' own futures, as L&G found that 10 per cent are accessing their own pension savings to help, with 8 per cent even taking an early lump sum. One in 15 financial carers (7 per cent) will delay their own retirement by more than five years as a result. However, L&G found that there is a silver lining, as nearly a quarter (24 per cent) said the experience spurred them to take charge of their own pension planning.

LCP has a new service designed to reflect changes in the defined benefit (DB) funding regime and covenant guidance.

LCP said that the new funding regime means that schemes need to have tailored and focused advice to ensure that they meet the new requirements for valuations, with the firm's new service intended to respond to these changing regulations. The service is designed to ensure that trustees are getting the best and most proportionate and relevant covenant advice for their scheme, identifying common characteristics between schemes and grouping them into three categories: low risk/small scheme, fast track compliant: no recovery plan, and fast track compliant: recovery plan needed. Commenting on the new service, LCP partner, Helen Abbott, said: “The new regime rightly places greater emphasis on long-term planning and covenant support. But for many trustees, especially those with limited budgets or smaller schemes, the volume of guidance and new terminology can be overwhelming.”

First Actuarial recorded double-digit growth in 2024/25 with £45m revenue.

This means that the group's average growth over the past three years stands at 17 per cent, which is consistently above the market average. First Actuarial managing partner, David Joy, said: “This is a fantastic performance from everyone at First Actuarial, on the back of two strong years. Three consecutive years of double-digit growth show that we’re clearly doing the right things for clients.” While this year’s revenue increase runs across all business areas, the group said it was particularly proud of the firm’s administration function, which now represents almost 40 per cent of the overall business.

Smart Pension has launched a call wait time tracker, in what is thought to be an industry first.

Announced to coincide with Customer Service Week, the group has committed to sharing weekly average call wait times with its savers on the Smart Pension website and in app. The new online tracker lets savers view the latest average call wait times to speak to a Smart Pension service support consultant. As of October, the average weekly call wait times for Smart Pension members, employers and advisers are less than 10 seconds. The group highlighted the tracker as a demonstration of its commitment to combining technology with personal interactions, after its research found that 61 per cent of Gen Z say they prefer to contact customer support in person when it comes to banking.

Raindrop has revealed that it has reunited savers with over £800m in lost pension pots since launch.

The pension-finding platform revealed that, during 2025, it recovered a total of almost £400m from lost or forgotten pension pots for savers, already surpassing the £251m found in 2024. In total, Raindrop’s pension-finding technology has recovered over 70,000 individual pots with an average value of over £11,000.

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