Making the best of it

Robust sales growth in the income drawdown market suffered a setback last year, not surprisingly considering the turmoil on the financial markets and resultant 'flight to certainty'. Association of British Insurer figures show the generally upward growth path stalled with the number of new drawdown contracts taken out dipping to 29,000 from 33,000 the previous year, and new premiums falling to £2.35 billion from £3.03 billion. There are several good reasons to believe this will prove to be a temporary blip. Guaranteed annuities are at their most appealing when the sky is falling in but ...