What’s the difference between a PODE and a Financial Adviser?
Quick answer:
A Pensions on Divorce Expert (PODE) provides independent pension analysis for a divorce settlement. A financial adviser will give advise on how to use, invest or manage a pension share after divorce, but also assess your whole financial picture to develop an appropriate financial plan and will often continue to work with you post divorce.
Introduction
A PODE and a financial adviser can both be involved when pensions are shared on divorce, but they do different jobs at different stages.
Most PODEs are instructed as Single Joint Experts (SJEs). That means the same PODE can usually act for both parties because their role is neutral: to help both people, and the court if needed, understand what a fair pension outcome looks like.
A financial adviser is different. Their role is to act in your personal best interests and give advice based on your own circumstances. For that reason, you and the other party may have the same PODE, but wouldn’t usually have the same financial adviser.
Understanding the difference helps you know who to speak to, when to speak to them, and why the two roles should not be blurred.
What a PODE does
A PODE is usually jointly instructed, which means they must remain independent and impartial.
A PODE typically:
Reviews the pensions involved and explains what they’re really worth
Models outcomes such as pension sharing, offsetting or different settlement structures
Produces an expert report that can be used by both parties and the court
Helps everyone understand the pensions to help reach a fair settlement
Not sure whether you need expert input from a PODE? Take our zero cost ‘Do I need a PODE report?’ assessment.
What a PODE does not do
A PODE generally does not:
Give personal financial advice to either party
Recommend specific pension products
Tell you what you personally should do with your money after settlement
Choose investments for you
Implement the pension share for you
That separation matters. If the PODE is acting as an independent expert, they should not also be advising one party on their personal financial choices.
What a financial adviser does
A financial adviser helps with personal financial decisions. After a pension settlement, that might include:
What to do with a pension credit once it is received
Whether to stay in a scheme or transfer out, if options are available
What type of pension arrangement may be suitable
How to invest the pension credit
How pension decisions fit with your wider financial plan, tax position, retirement goals and cash flow
Unlike a PODE, a financial adviser can give advice that is specific to you and your circumstances.
When each one is needed
In simple terms, a PODE is usually needed when pensions form part of the marital assets and you are trying to work out how to share or offset them fairly. They provide independent expert analysis so both parties, and the court if needed, can understand the pension issues properly.
A solicitor, mediator or the court may then help with agreeing, negotiating or formalising the divorce settlement.
A financial adviser is usually needed later, once the pension share has been agreed or ordered and you need personal advice about what to do next. That might include where the pension credit should go, how it should be invested, and how it fits with your wider financial plan.
Ready for Financial Advice?
If you’re at the stage of your divorce where you feel broader financial advice has become necessary, independent review sites such as VouchedFor are a good place to start to look for a compatible adviser. It’s really important to find one who shares your values and understands your needs. Many people keep the same financial adviser for years, so the quality of the connection and relationship is really important.
Our Founder Kimberley Sare - Financial Adviser of the Year 2025 - leads our sister company ‘Guided Financial’ an independent divorce specialist supporting people with all aspects of their financial position, including how to best utilise their pension credits.
If you are a client of The PODE and have now received your PODE report she can help you make sense of your options for receiving, transferring and investing your pension credit and consider your broader financial position. If you’re not a PODE client you can get in touch at any stage of your divorce process.
The bottom line
A PODE and a financial adviser are complementary, but they are not interchangeable.
A PODE helps establish a fair pension outcome in divorce. A financial adviser helps you make personal decisions once that outcome needs to be implemented and looks at your whole financial position, not just pensions.
