Pension professionals have shown a preference for flexible and blended retirement approaches when asked what they would choose for their own guided retirement solution, a poll from the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has found.

In the poll, flex and annuity emerged as the most popular guided retirement option, chosen by 19 per cent of respondents.

Flex then retirement collective defined contribution (CDC) was selected by 17 per cent, followed by flex then annuity (13 per cent), retirement CDC (11 per cent), and flex then a deferred annuity (10 per cent).

In contrast, only 2 per cent said they would choose collective drawdown, and 3 per cent an annuity.

The poll was conducted at a recent SPP webinar looking at innovation in defined contribution (DC) retirement solutions, attended by over 300 professionals.

Chairing the webinar, SPP immediate past president, Sophia Singleton, said: “What’s particularly striking about this SPP polling is the breadth of solutions that pension professionals would choose for themselves.

“The results demonstrate a real appetite to look beyond traditional drawdown and consider how different approaches including retirement CDC and various flex options, could work to provide better outcomes in retirement.”

Under the Pension Schemes Act 2026, guided retirement solutions are designed to provide people with more structured support when converting their pension savings into retirement income.

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