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Multi-asset and the future of retirement investment solutions

Journalist: Ima Jackson-Obot, FTAdviser

ended 19. October 2025

Hello advisers, 

NextWealth’s new report warns that while decumulation-focussed retirement investment solutions still represent only a sliver of advised DC assets today, they are positioned to enter a phase of rapid growth — provided providers deliver true flexibility - multi-asset cited as an example, good adviser support and integration across advice workflows.

I'm working on a follow-up and would really appreciate your insight.

How well do current multi-asset or MPS ranges meet your clients’ needs in retirement — particularly when it comes to delivering sustainable income and managing sequencing risk? How key would you say mutli-asset solutions are to retirement investment growth.

What features or capabilities do you most want to see in retirement investment solutions to help you support clients through different life stages — for example, flexibility of withdrawals, integration with cashflow modelling, or blending with secure income?”

As you modernise your retirement proposition, what kind of support or innovation from providers would make the biggest difference — better platform integration, clearer communication of outcomes, or lower-cost flexible portfolios?

Thanks

Ima

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Managing Director & IFA at Mather and Murray Financial
Cash flow analysis and sequencing risk is something a good financial adviser will go through with their clients and manage on an ongoing basis, so the client knows what the risks are and how to mitigate them. It is difficult to outsource this to decumulation funds, as the assets are all wrapped up in one structure. DFM MPSs are an appropriate, suitable and beneficial vehicle for savings in retirement as long as cash management is also considered.
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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
Almost as long as I’ve been an IFA, the industry has been trying to scare advisers into using their packaged solutions — often under the guise of FCA requirements, when in reality no such requirement exists. The FCA Decumulation Review is simply the latest opportunity for them to do so. At Rowley Turton, while multi-asset funds are an important part of our investment approach, good retirement advice isn’t about buying a product. It’s about understanding the client, managing sequencing risk, and ensuring income flexibility through proper cashflow planning. What would help advisers most isn’t another “solution,” but better platform integration — seamless links between investment portfolios, cashflow tools, and reporting systems to make advice delivery more efficient and client outcomes clearer.
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Colin Low
Managing Director at Kingsfleet
Multi asset funds can be the engine for long-term growth within a retirement solution but an engine alone won’t deliver anyone to their destination. As well as an engine alone, a vehicle needs brakes to slow when conditions are difficult and even an airbag to protect the occupants in times of danger. Retirement planning needs to supplement long-term investment returns with cash to deliver short-term returns so that no one needs to be a forced seller in the first two years. In between these as strategies, it’s also wise to include a ‘low volatility’ investment arrangement targeted at years 3-5. Using only one investment structure may be simple but it just doesn’t cover the myriad investment risks that could arise during documentation.