Why advisers should consider third-way products

Is an annuity an investment, or is it an insurance product, insuring you against living too long? If you regard it as the latter, the important bit is that it will pay out for the whole of an individual’s life, however long it might be. On the other hand, an annuity as an investment is unlikely to be attractive, because annuity rates are generally based on gilts rates, and there has to be sufficient security for the annuity to last as long as it has to. For most people with relatively small pension funds, annuity purchase will be the only option, because they need security and cannot aff...