Retirement Income Advice Assessment Tool (RIAAT)

Our Retirement Income Advice Assessment Tool (RIAAT) helps personal investment firms understand how we assess the suitability of their retirement income advice and disclosures to consumers.

Retirement Income Advice Assessment Tool[1]

We developed the RIAAT[1] during our Thematic Review[2] into Retirement Income advice.

We are publishing the RIAAT to help firms understand the methodology we use in our file reviews of retirement income advice. It may also be of interest to other stakeholders with an interest in Retirement Income advice, including:

professional indemnity insurance providers who want to better understand how we assess Retirement Income advice
compliance or legal consultants who want to be better able to support firms responding to our reviews
trustees and sponsoring employers of defined contribution pension schemes

Using the RIAAT

Using the RIAAT is subject to the terms of our RIAAT Licence Agreement[3]. Please read the agreement carefully before accessing or using the RIAAT. By accessing the RIAAT you confirm you accept the terms of the RIAAT Licence Agreement. 

We recommend that you use the current RIAAT to assess your past advice. For example, if you receive any complaints about the Retirement Income advice you gave or as part of carrying out a past business review. This RIAAT sets out the key factors you should consider when checking the suitability of your advice and disclosure and allows firms to understand what we expect.

Our instruction guide[4] will help you understand how to use the RIAAT or interpret the results from a file review by us. You can also email us if you have any questions about how to use the RIAAT.

Access the RIAAT[2]

Firms can use the updated RIAAT to assess the suitability of Retirement Income advice and the adequacy of client disclosure for advice given after 1 November 2007.

Frequently asked questions

How much information should I record in the RIAAT?

When completing the template, an assessor should ensure that the information they enter, including values, notes, additional comments, rationale and evidence, is sufficiently detailed for a third-party assessor to:

get an accurate and complete overview of the relevant evidence on the client file
form a view - without the need to refer to the relevant evidence - on whether the firm has collected the necessary information to assess suitability and complied with any applicable suitability requirements

If a client has more than 5 existing plans, should I complete 2 RIAATs?

Yes. In this case you should complete 1 RIAAT for every 5 plans you are advising on.

You can duplicate the information recorded in your first RIAAT for this purpose.

Can I assess a personal recommendation as suitable if I have a Material Information Gap?

You cannot assess advice as suitable if there is a Material Information Gap.

In this case, you can only conclude that advice is unsuitable. This is because you do not have the necessary information to assess suitability. You can find more information on the process in section 1 of the RIAAT instructions[5] which explain how to fill in the Information Tab of the RIAAT.

Is the RIAAT being used to assess compliance with the Consumer Duty before 31 July 2023

No. We will not be using the RIAAT to assess compliance with the Consumer Duty[4] before the Duty’s implementation.

What qualifications do I need to use the RIAAT?

When we published the RIAAT in February 2024, it was a tool which firms could choose to use when assessing their own Retirement Income advice.  Use of the RIAAT is not a requirement, and there are no minimum qualification levels for users.

What qualifications do FCA file reviewers have?

Where we undertake reviews of Retirement Income advice as part of our supervision and enforcement investigations of firms, we use the RIAAT. Our assessors, and those responsible for quality assurance, must hold an appropriate level 4 advisory qualification and have previous industry experience. 

Where we engage third parties to undertake reviews of Retirement Income advice on our behalf, we expect the same qualification standard to be applied.

First published: 20/03/2024 Last updated: 20/03/2024