Question: Cass Business School recently held a debate asking whether drawdown would replace annuities. Do you believe this will happen, if not why not?

Nick Bladen is head of pensions & bonds marketing at Skandia Without doubt, income drawdown will continue to increase in popularity as many clients no longer perceive annuities as a good deal. My view is that clients have a strong appetite to retain direct control over their investment strategy. Income drawdown products offer clients the ability to access a pension lump sum and provide the option to take nil income, a feature simply not available from annuity products. Last year Skandia carried out a survey of 1,000 consumers which highlighted a dramatic drop in the number of people w...