What is the Advice Guidance Boundary Review – and how will it impact workplace financial wellbeing support?

How the Advice Guidance Boundary Review is expanding financial support

The Review aims to tackle a deepening issue - most people don’t get the financial support they need, despite financial decisions becoming more challenging. While traditional financial advice remains vital for complex, individualised needs, it’s often perceived as expensive and out of reach for many. This has historically limited the support schemes can provide beyond a relatively small group of members. 

Existing online guidance can be too generic, often failing to give people the confidence to make real decisions. As a result, engagement can be low. For workplace advisers, this has been a persistent challenge, particularly where engagement doesn’t translate into action.  
 
The Review has created a more flexible, tiered system for financial help, allowing people to receive more tailored and practical recommendations without crossing into the strict regulatory territory of full advice. Within this new system, Targeted Support stands out as a key innovation. For improving engagement and decision‑making within workplace schemes.

Targeted Support. A game-changer for financial help 

Targeted Support introduces a new era for how people engage with financial decisions. The ABI state ‘Targeted Support could represent one of the most significant engagement shifts in pensions since auto-enrolment’*. And I believe that’s true. It bridges the advice gap in a profound way, not by providing bespoke one-to-one advice, but with actionable recommendations to groups who share similar characteristics - like age, income, pension savings size, life stage, spending behaviours, and proximity to pension age. This group-based approach is particularly well suited to workplace schemes where members often have shared needs and behaviours.  This type of support draws on collective data, offering relevant and evidence-based recommendations.  
 
Think of it like this - just as streaming services suggest shows based on what similar users have enjoyed, Targeted Support helps people make smarter financial decisions by offering recommendations based on what works for others with similar goals and circumstances. By reducing complexity and increasing relevance, this has the potential to improve engagement and action rates within schemes.  
 
For workplace pension members, who may feel uncertain or overwhelmed by choices as they approach retirement, I believe this support will be highly effective in building understanding to make confident decisions. Our own early consumer research alongside the FCA demonstrated these positive effects. For schemes, this could translate into better member outcomes. 
 
It’s important to note Targeted Support isn’t a replacement for paid for, individualised financial advice. Instead, it helps people engage earlier in their financial planning journey, understand their options, and take positive action.  Used well, it can help prepare members for more focused and productive advice conversations where needs are more complex, increasing initial engagement and support and reinforcing the value of advice. 

Why Targeted Support matters for workplace wellbeing  

I believe Targeted Support will have a big impact on workplace pensions, wider workplace savings and employee financial wellbeing. By offering free, actionable recommendations, it helps approved providers like Royal London to support a wider range of individuals, including members who may previously have been hard to reach or disengaged. Employees who may have previously struggled to make decisions or lacked confidence are now more likely to get timely, relevant help. 
 
This approach is particularly valuable during key life moments, like planning for retirement or dealing with financial challenges. Instead of generic guidance, employees will get tailored help that could reduce stress and improve their financial outcomes. For employers, this means a more financially secure workforce, better prepared for the future.  For workplace advisers, it also means schemes that are delivering clearer value to members.  
 
Targeted Support also encourages employees to take steps early to understand their financial options. This proactive approach helps them feel more secure about their money and better equipped to seek full advice if their needs become more complex. By supporting earlier engagement, advisers can focus time and expertise where individual solutions add the greatest value.  By addressing financial concerns early, employees can avoid bigger issues down the line and reduce the long-term costs of poor financial decisions. 

What does this mean for advisers? 

The Review and Targeted Support represent the most significant change in financial help delivery in a generation. By expanding access to meaningful, practical and actionable help, the UK aims to close the advice gap and empower millions to take better decisions. For approved providers, these reforms offer completely new opportunities to support employees and improve financial wellbeing across the board. For workplace advisers, they also create new ways to enhance scheme value, drive engagement and improve member outcomes at scale. 
 
Source: *Reinventing pensions - How Targeted Support can redefine engagement | ABI, March 2026.