Aviva has installed a new platform to expand access to financial advice and personalised guidance to help more of its customers plan for retirement.

Through a partnership with risk and management software firm Ortec Finance, the insurance company will deploy a financial planning platform to deliver an end-to-end digital guidance and advice service supported by human advisers.

Aviva said the new platform will help it reach more customers with personalised financial guidance while making regulated advice available to a broader audience.

It added that the technology will allow its financial planners to deliver advice more efficiently by using advanced modelling and forecasting to support investment and retirement planning.

The platform provides dynamic portfolio analysis based on changing market conditions, helping advisers give customers more personalised recommendations.

The partnership also aligns with the UK's new Targeted Support regime, which came into force in April and allows authorised firms to provide tailored suggestions to groups of customers with similar financial circumstances without delivering full personalised advice.

Riaan de Bruyn, director of consumer wealth at Aviva, said that closing the advice gap is one of the most important challenges the industry faces, and as the largest pension provider in the UK, Aviva needed to help its customers achieve the financial and retirement outcomes they deserve.

“At Aviva, we’re clear that personalised guidance is critical to drive engagement at scale and the Targeted Support regime will further enable us to address the advice gap with clear suggestions for customers to engage with their pensions and take their next steps with confidence,” he added. “But we believe that financial advice remains the gold standard for more complex needs and that advisers play a vital role in giving our customers the confidence to make these important life decisions.”

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