Is annuity gender arbitrage on the horizon?

The annuity market will become a sphere of gender neutrality from December this year, when European rules make it illegal to price contracts based on sex. Providers say this will “fundamentally alter the market” which has traditionally used gender as the key factor in calculating cost – as females tend to live longer than men. However, in March last year, the European Court of Justice ruled the use of gender to underwrite contracts was in breach of the EU Equal Treatment Directive – which bans the withholding of goods and services on the basis of sex. Standard Life head of pensions...