Accenture took part in a panel discussion on Personal Pensions in a Changing Landscape at the ABI Annual Conference last month. During the session, Robert Holford, Insights Director, Altus Consulting, part of Accenture, spoke about what steps providers should prioritise to ensure effective implementation - especially if personal pensions are included in scope at a later stage.
For decades, pension engagement has been hampered by complexity, perceived irrelevance, low trust, and cost concerns as barriers to regulated financial advice. Targeted Support is product of the joint Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HM Treasury Advice Guidance Boundary Review launched in 2022. Its aim is to bridge the gap between generic guidance and regulated financial advice. The FCA’s near-final rules for the Targeted Support regime, announced in December last year, signal a pivotal moment for the industry: a shift from theoretical debate to practical, customer-focused solutions.
Importantly, Targeted Support represents more than a communications evolution; it introduces a new regulatory middle-ground. Under the emerging framework, firms will be permitted to provide suggestions aligned to customer segments without crossing into personalised recommendations. This shifts the industry mindset from avoiding interaction for fear of straying into advice, towards delivering structured, evidence-based support within defined regulatory guardrails.
At its heart, Targeted Support is about moving people from inertia to action
Traditionally, many savers have been paralysed by the sheer complexity and choice within pensions. Targeted Support is designed to move customers from inertia to action, offering relevant, timely nudges that go beyond just guidance, giving specific recommendations to savers at critical life moments.
From a delivery perspective, this will rely heavily on behavioural insight and data-led triggers. Effective Targeted Support is likely to be event-driven rather than static - for example at contribution changes, career pivot moments, retirement proximity, or decumulation decision points. This represents a shift from annual, generic engagement communications to dynamic, journey-based interventions supported by robust management information and engagement analytics.
A technically credible Targeted Support model will depend on meaningful customer segmentation. Providers will need to move beyond simple demographics and incorporate engagement levels, pot size, retirement horizon, vulnerability indicators, and behavioural signals. Without this foundation, support risks being either too generic to drive action or too specific to remain within regulatory boundaries. Segmentation will therefore become a core governance tool as well as an engagement enabler.
Crucially, Targeted Support must also address the longstanding engagement gap in long-term savings. While regulatory frameworks focus on the nature of support, the operational reality is that most customer communications are passively ignored. From a behavioural perspective, any outbound communication functions as a nudge - but if it is poorly timed, overly generic, or cognitively burdensome, it is unlikely to influence decision-making.
As a result, success will depend less on the volume of communications and more on intelligent engagement design, including channel optimisation, behavioural testing, and trigger-based journeys that align with real customer decision points.
Building confidence without the hard sell
One of the most compelling aspects of Targeted Support is its ability to build confidence without forcing advice. Customers often feel wary of being “sold to” when seeking help with their pensions. By focusing on support rather than sales, providers can help individuals feel genuinely supported, fostering a sense of partnership rather than pressure. This shift is crucial for normalising pension decisions - making them feel simpler, more human, and less intimidating.
However, delivering this at scale will necessitate changes to operating models, including trained frontline teams, clear escalation routes into regulated advice, and integrated digital and human support journeys. For many providers and platforms, this will also mean aligning CRM systems, engagement tooling, and governance frameworks to ensure support is consistent, auditable, and compliant across all channels.
Trust is the cornerstone of better outcomes
Trust and satisfaction are intricately linked in the world of pensions. Targeted Support has the potential to rebuild trust over time, but only if it is delivered with transparency, consistency, and a clear distinction from sales tactics. Providers who invest in genuine, customer-centric support will be rewarded, while those who treat Targeted Support as a compliance exercise risk being exposed.
The route to trust is evolving. The traditional approach - offering information and guidance on every aspect of retirement income - often assumes customers are deeply invested in the details. Yet, as highlighted at the recent ABI annual conference, most customers are not. Their priorities lie elsewhere, and pensions are rarely front of mind until a decision point arises. Trust is built through action, not just words or information. When customers see that providers are ready to help at critical life moments, without pushing sales or compliance agendas they are more likely to return and rely on that support. Targeted Support becomes the first port of call, a reliable triage that fosters confidence and satisfaction.
Clear customer disclosures will also be critical from a regulatory perspective. Firms will need to ensure customers understand the nature, limitations, and scope of Targeted Support, particularly how it differs from personalised financial advice. Poor articulation risks both customer misunderstanding and regulatory scrutiny.
A long-term view for providers
Building trust takes time. Providers who embrace Targeted Support must be prepared to take a long-term view of the commercial benefits.
The alignment with Consumer Duty is particularly significant. While the FCA has not prescribed rigid outcomes frameworks, firms will still need to demonstrate that their Targeted Support is delivering value and not causing foreseeable harm.
In practice, this is likely to translate into proportionate monitoring of customer understanding, engagement behaviours, and decision pathways, supported by appropriate governance rather than purely interaction-led metrics.
Over time, firms are likely to assess success through measurable indicators such as increased contribution rates, improved retirement readiness, increased engagement, and more appropriate product journeys. When embedded effectively, Targeted Support has the potential to reduce servicing costs, improve retention, and strengthen lifetime customer value while simultaneously meeting regulatory expectations.
Looking ahead, Targeted Support could represent one of the most significant engagement shifts in pensions since auto-enrolment. Its success will depend not just on regulatory compliance, but on the integration of data, segmentation, governance, and behavioural design into core propositions. Providers who embed it strategically, rather than treating it as a regulatory overlay, are likely to be best positioned to deliver scalable engagement and demonstrable customer outcomes.