Webb and annuities: Time for a wider debate

Helen Morrissey
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Steve Webb's recent comments on annuities have provoked fierce debate. Helen Morrissey asks if this can provoke a wider conversation on the future of the retirement income market.

Steve Webb's recent comments about annuities have got the industry in a spin. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph the pensions minister said people should be able to switch their annuities periodically in the same way as they switch mortgage providers. The suggestion was widely lambasted with Increaseyourpension.co.uk director Craig Palfrey accusing Webb of displaying "the breathtaking extent of his ignorance surrounding annuities." He also pointed out that much of what Webb was advocating already exists in the market in the form of fixed term and enhanced annuities http://www.i...

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