Sun Life Financial of Canada are not allowing their members to take benefit under the new flexi-access drawdown (income drawdown) rules. Those who are approaching retirement and wishing to take their money more flexibly under the pension reforms are being told they need to move their funds elsewhere. Members are also being told they will need to take an annuity through Legal and General if they want a guaranteed lifetime income.

Sun Life Financial of Canada are not the only company who’ve decided not to offer access to drawdown. At CompareDrawdown we receive a lot of enquires from people who have no choice but to shop around for another provider if they want to use pension drawdown.

We understand that it can be a bit of a minefield searching for the right plan. With annuities, it was a lot easier to shop around, simply choosing the provider who offered the highest income. Finding a drawdown provider is a little more difficult. There are over 100 companies who offer access to drawdown and over 4000 funds to choose. All the companies have a different charging structure and will be beneficial to people of different fund sizes.

The good news for these people is that the initial rush on the 4th April has now died down leaving many providers with more realistic administration time scales. Sun Life Financial of Canada are currently at around 2 weeks to provide scheme information which is normal.

We’ve help many Sun Life Financial of Canada customers find a drawdown provider. Use the comparison calculator on the right to see which drawdown provider is best for your fund size.