CHANGES IN PENSION RULES PLACE FOCUS ON CUSTOMER INSIGHT - Finance news and analysis from Global Banking & Finance Review
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CHANGES IN PENSION RULES PLACE FOCUS ON CUSTOMER INSIGHT

Published by Gbaf News

Posted on May 19, 2014

2 min read

· Last updated: December 7, 2018

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Pension Rule Changes Create New Challenges

Equifax Investor Insights provides actual consumer investment purchase behaviour helping tackle the challenges facing pensions and investment providers and advisers

With savers now given the freedom to take their entire pension in cash at retirement, Paul Birks, Decisions Solutions Director at consumer insights expert, Equifax, believes this place a whole new level of emphasis on the need for customer insight for pensions and investments businesses. “If, as many predict, this year will prove to be a pensions and investments game changer, then the organisations that make the best decisions now will be the ones that thrive.

Paul Birks

Paul Birks

Understanding Actual Consumer Behaviour

We believe actual consumer investment purchase behaviour at postcode level is the only way to achieve a complete understanding of customers, which the new Equifax Investor Insights solution delivers.

“The Chancellor’s aim that nobody will be forced to buy an annuity at retirement and can instead take their entire pension in cash, gives a clear signal to wealth and investment providers and advisers that they need to better understand their customers. Full and current customer insight must therefore be central to their activities and this requires a depth of understanding that cannot be achieved through the traditional approach of using survey data.”

Equifax Investor Insights Solution Overview

Based on more than £345 billion of actual sales of life, pension and investment products, Equifax Investor Insights enables companies to build a clear picture of customers. Applied retrospectively to existing customer data, it could play a particularly valuable role in the changing pensions and investment landscape.

Key Features and Data Breakdown

Featuring more than 200 investment characteristics, Equifax Investor Insights provides the value and frequency of investment product purchases, including age, risk and products held, giving providers a better understanding of their customers. A directory of Equifax Investor Insights characteristics at seven digit postcode level can be provided to organisations with analytic and modelling capabilities, enabling them to create bespoke solutions.  Alternatively Equifax can analyse customer data, using Equifax Investor Insights.

Key Takeaways

  • Equifax Investor Insights delivers granular, postcode-level data on actual consumer investment behaviours.
  • The solution covers over £345 billion in real-life sales across life, pension, and investment products.
  • Providers and advisers can use this depth of insight—beyond surveys—to adapt to pension freedoms.
  • Paul Birks highlights that deeper customer understanding is now critical as savers gain cash withdrawal flexibility.
  • Equifax enables bespoke analytics or direct client analysis using over 200 investment characteristics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Equifax Investor Insights?
A consumer‑insight solution offering postcode‑level data on actual investment and pension purchase behaviour across over £345 billion in sales.
Why is this solution important now?
With pension freedoms allowing full cash withdrawals, providers need deeper customer insight than surveys can offer to make smart decisions.
What granularity does the data offer?
It includes more than 200 characteristics—such as value, frequency, age, risk, product types—at seven‑digit postcode level.
Who can benefit from this tool?
Pensions, wealth and investment providers and advisers can use it to enrich customer data for analytics, modelling or bespoke solutions.
How can firms implement the insights?
Either by receiving the postcode‑level directory to integrate with their models or by having Equifax apply analysis directly to their customer data.

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