Searches for retirement planning advice have more than doubled in the past year

• Online searches for financial advice up 35% overall in the past year
• More than twice as many searches relating to ‘retirement planning’
• ‘Drawdown’ three times more popular in April 2015 than in April 2014
• ‘Annuities’ no longer among the top pension searches, despite a 70 per cent increase overall

Online searches for financial advice have increased by 35 per cent in the past year, according to search data from unbiased.co.uk. This has been driven by enquiries about pension freedom, with significant increases in demand for the top three pension topics of ‘drawdown’, ‘transfers’ and general ‘retirement planning’.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, comments: ‘Pension freedom has clearly been a big driver for people to seek advice in the past year, with more retirement options available than ever before. For example, income drawdown was a restricted and therefore less popular option before April, but has seen a huge spike in interest in the past year, with over three times as many searches on unbiased.co.uk.

‘It’s encouraging that with all this new information to understand, and decisions to make, more people are looking to professional advice for support. This advice will allow people at all stages of life to be confident that they are thoroughly prepared for their retirement.’

Consumers looking for independent advice from a whole-of-market financial adviser can find one at www.unbiased.co.uk.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Data shows the search terms that have driven traffic to unbiased.co.uk between April 2014 and April 2015

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Helping over one million visitors a year, unbiased.co.uk is the UK's No 1 adviser search, connecting consumers with the biggest and most versatile search for regulated and independent advisers. We match consumers and businesses to over 24,000 IFAs, financial advisers, mortgage brokers, solicitors and accountants. We make it easy to find the right advice by providing information, insights and tools to facilitate consumer choice.

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