A new retail platform offering flexi-access drawdown, Isa and general investment accounts is being created by Friends Life.

The company revealed this morning that it would be available to customers from April 2015 with the aim to complement the group's existing My Money corporate platform.
Andy Briggs, group chief executive said: "Our customer research programme has been extended over the last quarter which will ensure the products designed meet the needs of our existing mass affluent customers.
"The new platform will therefore offer a flexi-income drawdown product alongside both an ISA product (cash and investments) and a general investment account, allowing those in retirement to invest their pension pots in the most tax efficient way possible."
He said he was encouraged by the progress of the new platform.

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He said: "These products will have access to a carefully-selected range of investment options, appropriate to the needs of our target customers, and leveraging our scale and best-of-breed approach to investment management.
"These platform capabilities will therefore support customers in taking advantage of the new pension freedoms to access their money or invest for longer.
"They will be able to take a portion of their pension savings, some as a tax free cash amount, with the remainder invested in a flexi-income drawdown product."
Those wishing to secure a guaranteed level of income will be able to purchase an annuity, he added.
The company also reported its third quarter results in an interim management statement today.
It stated that retirement Income sales volumes were down on the first three quarters of 2013, but by only 12% despite the Budget reforms.
The Stock Exchange statement read: "This performance compares well with that of the wider annuity market which was down 32% in the first half of 2014.
"This pleasing business performance has been due to both the continued strong engagement with customers and the group's exposure to policies with valuable guarantees which remain attractive for customers."
In the UK, overall sales were up 11% to £579 million, driven by the corporate benefits and protection businesses where sales increased by 14% and 11% respectively, the firm also reported.

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