The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) has identified “shortcomings” in how earnings-related pension providers market self-employed pensions (YEL) on their websites.

While general information was found to be accessible and mostly neutral, the regulator raised concerns around misleading communication of statutory benefits and a lack of transparency in online pension calculators.

The FIN-FSA noted that some companies failed to clearly explain that the start-up discount under YEL is set by law and available through all providers.

The start-up discount is a statutory benefit under Finnish law that provides a 22 per cent reduction in YEL contributions for new entrepreneurs during their first four years of YEL insurance.

The FIN-FSA warned that, in some cases, wording or context on company websites could mislead customers into believing the benefit was exclusive to a particular insurer.

“The Financial Supervisory Authority considers that any benefit, discount or service that is directly provided by law should not be marketed as a company-specific benefit in a way that may create a misleading impression for the customer,” the authority stated.

Additionally, inconsistencies were identified in the YEL calculators available on insurers’ websites. These tools, which allow users to estimate future pensions and contributions, produced different results for identical inputs due to varying assumptions, many of which were not disclosed.

According to the FIN-FSA, this lack of clarity undermines the customer's ability to understand or trust the results.

“The Financial Supervisory Authority considers that, in line with good insurance practice, the customer should be provided with essential information on the basis of which the YEL calculator's estimate of the future pension is based. The customer should be provided with all information that may be relevant, for example, in understanding and estimating the outcome of the calculation,” it stated.

The review was conducted in spring 2025 using only publicly accessible website content and did not include login-restricted material. While comparative marketing and cross-sector advertising were limited, the FIN-FSA will continue to provide targeted feedback to firms as part of its ongoing supervision of IORPs.

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