15th August 2012

Panacea partners with Axa Life Europe

Panacea , the online resource for directly regulated IFAs, welcomes AXA Life Europe to its list of strategic partners. AXA Life Europe is the AXA Group’s primary producer of investment products with guarantees (“variable annuities”) in Europe. The partnership will provide Panacea’s 10,000 members with increased access to AXA’s latest pensions tools, research, and educational support ahead of RDR.

The new relationship coincides with the release of AXA’s Cost of Living in Retirement report*, which reveals that almost 40% of pensioners do not feel financially comfortable in retirement. Of those, more than half would need about an extra £4,000 a year or more.

• 58% of pensioners said that they did not seek professional advice
• of those that did, 14% waited until just before they retired
• 69% of respondents retired earlier than they thought they would, because of ill health (either their own or their partner’s), redundancy, or the need to care for elderly parents.

The report highlights the concerns of many pensioners about their future level of income, and the importance of suitable advice, information and planning ahead of retirement.

Derek Bradley, CEO of Panacea, comments:

“We have seen an increase in interest in unit-linked guaranteed pension solutions among IFAs, as in the run-up to RDR they need to consider all options and look at a much broader range of products. Through this partnership, Panacea and AXA will be bringing them more information and options in this innovative product space.”

Simon Smallcombe, Head of Guaranteed Distribution at AXA, concludes:

“AXA’s findings highlight the concerns over greater need for financial advice in the pensions industry. With this in mind, the partnership between Panacea and AXA aims to address these concerns, putting advisers in touch with AXA’s support and expertise in the pension space in order to help consumers plan for future levels of income.”

This latest partnership follows Panacea’s link-up with Legal & General last month.

*A study of 200 pensioners who have income from private pensions (either defined benefit or defined contribution) aged between 60 and 75. The survey was carried out over the telephone by Ignition House, a full service market research agency specialising in financial services.

Investments, Pensions, Retirement