The connected pension scheme member experience is upon us
New expectations of pension providers in a digital-first world.
The workplace is changing rapidly, and your clients’ employees now expect more than ever from their pension provider. In a digital-first world, members want the same immediacy, personalisation, and seamless connectivity from their pension as they do from other services they use every day.
While pensions have historically lagged in delivering intuitive digital experiences, that’s no longer the case. Stronger digital capability and behavioural insight mean providers can now offer more joined-up, timely and genuinely useful support – a truly connected experience.
And while wider reforms – including the Value for Money (VFM) framework – will continue to raise standards in areas such as investment and core service, it’s digital innovation that is increasingly defining excellence in member experience. Advisers have a key role to play in helping employers understand where these differences are emerging – and how they can translate into better member outcomes.
Combining highly personalised communications with integrated, accessible financial support is no longer a future aspiration, it’s a reality – and increasingly central to delivering better member outcomes. Whether online, through human interaction, or both, a connected experience helps members act with confidence to improve their long-term financial resilience.
Why is a connected experience important for members?
A workplace pension is one of the most valuable – yet often underutilised – benefits you help your clients deliver. There remains a gap between having a pension and engaging with it – research shows only 36% of people with a defined contribution pension are on track for retirement¹.
This is often driven by a lack of financial knowledge, confidence or clear direction to maximise savings.
These challenges can mean members miss key decision points or take action without fully understanding how decisions impact their wider financial position.
As people live longer and rely more on defined contribution savings, helping bridge the gap between access and effective use is critical – both for member outcomes and for the value advisers bring to clients.
It’s also becoming an increasingly important part of the conversation advisers are having with employers today, as expectations of workplace benefits continue to evolve.
What does a great connected member experience look like?
The best experiences share three qualities – broad, effective and integrated support.
Broad support
Options matter. The type of support should reflect members’ situation, goals and life stage. From core communications and timely nudges, through to coaching and planning that adds a human touch, right through to Targeted Support – a new regulated form of financial assistance providing clear, actionable recommendations.
The gold standard remains personalised financial advice, tailored to individual needs – reinforcing the role advisers can play where deeper support is required.
Effective support
The value isn’t just in offering different types of support, but in increasing engagement, confidence and action.
- Nudges can prompt initial engagement
- Planning tools and guidance can build understanding
- Targeted Support, which we believe could benefit 21.5 million people², provides actionable recommendations at key moments Advice delivers the deepest level of support for more complex needs
Together, these create a continuum of support advisers can position to clients.
Integrated support
Great experiences connect these different types of support into one seamless journey. Data flows between interactions, so members don’t start from scratch each time – instead building on previous activity with increasingly relevant support.
How it works in practice
Broad, effective and integrated support only matters if it reaches members at the right time.
For example, when preparing for retirement, a connected experience could include:
- Earlier engagement – prompting members at the right time, using simple messaging and clear calls to action via apps or online accounts
- Clear planning tools – helping members understand their position with the right level of detail
- Refining plans – using Targeted Support to build more personalised, holistic retirement plans
- Access to human support – coaching or advice where reassurance or complexity requires it
- Easy action – digital journeys that feel seamless, without re-keying information
- Ongoing engagement – prompts to review and update plans as circumstances change.
This joined-up approach allows members to enter the journey at different stages, access the right level of support, and move forward with confidence.
Done well, it moves pensions from a once-a-year interaction to an ongoing experience – helping members make better decisions, earlier.
What this means for advisers
Providers with the right capabilities can support you in delivering:
- Stronger member engagement and better retirement outcomes
- Greater client value through enhanced employee benefit experiences
- Support aligned with evolving member expectations
- Reduced reliance on employers and HR for member support
- A clearer, more differentiated adviser proposition.
Crucially, these enhancements are about unlocking meaningful additional value from existing schemes – not necessarily adding cost or complexity. Many can be delivered within current structures, helping you elevate the overall proposition you bring to clients.
Selecting a provider is no longer just about charges, default funds and service levels – important as they remain. It’s increasingly about the ability to deliver connected, outcome-driven experiences that complement and enhance the support you provide.
Conclusion
Advisers can work with providers to strengthen their client offering – helping deliver better member outcomes while reinforcing their own strategic value.
Sources:
1 Higher auto enrolment contributions, pension adequacy and economic outcomes report, Oxford Economics, March 2026.
2 Royal London consumer research with UK adults, February 2025.
