Two years of automatic enrolment: Employer demand has created a new breed of automatic enrolment experts, says NEST

• Two years since automatic enrolment was introduced to the UK
• High levels of demand for support in 2015 as 45,000 new employers meet their duties
• Evidence of advisers meeting demand by ‘skilling up’
• Emergence of automatic enrolment experts through organisations like Intrinsic and unbiased.co.uk

With 45,000 small and micro employers set to stage next year, market intelligence suggests the advisory community is rising to the challenge.  

NEST insights released this week show that around 74 per cent of small and micro businesses set to stage in 2015 want support and a new breed of automatic enrolment expert is emerging to help employers get to grips with the new duties.

Evidence of up-skilling by advisers:

• Many signing up to software, such as over 300 sign ups to Intrinsic’s AE box software and payroll solutions
• Over 5,000 have signed up to NEST’s Adviser news
• Over 3,000 have attended a NEST webinar on how to administer the scheme as a third party
• Many promoting their specialism by identifying themselves as an automatic enrolment specialist on adviser websites.

Commenting on the findings, NEST chief executive Tim Jones said:
‘There’s evidence that advisers are ‘skilling up’ to be a one-stop shop for all their clients’ needs, from scheme selection and set-up to payroll integration and the ongoing running of the scheme.

‘Small and micro employers to date have had little experience of workplace pensions, so it’s natural that they’ll want help. Only one in four currently offers a scheme. With 45,000 staging in 2015 automatic enrolment experts are very well placed to help businesses meet their duties.’

Intrinsic Financial Services’ Head of automatic enrolment and at retirement, Richard Bartlett, said:
‘Intrinsic launched its automatic enrolment solution, AE box, which includes NEST, just three months ago. Since then we have conducted 16 courses and over 500 Intrinsic network members have attended the training sessions. Intrinsic has seen a marked increase in the number of automatic enrolment cases and as the largest adviser network in the UK, expects to see high volumes of business in 2015 and beyond.

‘In a post-RDR world, advisers see the automatic enrolment market as an excellent way of increasing the adviser customer base. This allows advisers to not only help clients implement a qualifying workplace pension scheme but also deliver solutions for other needs such as pension transfers, mortgage and protection advice.’

Neil Mutton Partner at Ablestoke wealth management said:
‘The automatic enrolment market is a huge opportunity for advisers willing to roll their sleeves up and learn. The opportunity is of course not only to gain long-term corporate clients but also to provide a range of services to them.

‘Intrinsic are, along with many payroll and other software providers, helping make the whole process more efficient and in their usual highly professional manner.’

Mark Tipper from Tailored Auto Enrolment said:
‘The automatic enrolment market has not yet started in anger for the small to medium sized firms. It is not too late to get involved in offering a service, whether it’s through yourself as a qualified adviser or referring to one of the specialist firms on the Intrinsic panel.

‘Intrinsic have put together a box of providers who have passed robust screening tests and offered guarantees that can't be found anywhere else in the industry.’