I am not sure if he has the confidence or knowledge to go down the exexcution only route so if an ARF is the choice I think he will probably use an intermediary. IMHO he hasn’t great confidence in his current financial advisor either as if he had he wouldn’t be requesting advice here.
One thing that I forgot to mention, is that he also told me is that he has the option to defer drawing it down until next year on his 61st birthday. He currently is still working, but looking at retiring and will still be in the higher tax bracket for now.
He very much appreciates your honesty and valued opinions. Thank you