Advisers have “mixed views” on whether investment pathways will change demand for retirement advice, according to new research by Aegon.

The pension provider found that 44% of advisers believe investment pathways will have no effect on demand, while 32% said it will reduce demand, and 11% believe it will increase demand. Another 1% of surveyed advisers said it will reduce demand “significantly”.

The findings, based on a December survey among 212 financial advisers, come as as investment pathways for non-advised drawdown customers go live today.

Customers with defined contribution pensions who’ve already decided to take a retirement income through drawdown rather than an annuity, but who refuse to take professional advice, will from today be offered new support from pension providers.

They’ll be asked to identify which of four retirement scenarios best matches their plans on using their pension funds over the next five years, and pension providers must make a range of four investment pathways available that are designed to be broadly appropriate for these scenarios.

Aegon pensions director, Steven Cameron, said: “The idea behind investment pathways is to help reduce the potential for non-advised individuals to make unwise investment choices, such as taking on too much or too little investment risk.

“However, it will not provide any help in deciding how much income to take, and unlike with advice, there’s no ‘personal recommendation’ of which pathway to choose. Going back five years, very few individuals considered drawdown without first seeking professional advice but the financial regulator has been concerned that many more are now opting for drawdown without advice.

“While investment pathways will offer some help to those who choose to ‘go it alone’, it’s really important for those approaching retirement to understand that they won’t replace the benefits of taking professional financial advice.”

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