FSA not going far enough on the open market option

From September this year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will require those selling annuities to explain the open market option (OMO) before they make a recommendation. At one stroke, this could help the estimated two-thirds of those retiring with a money purchase pension, who do not currently use the OMO, to improve their income by as much as 30%. But is the FSA going far enough? An increasingly vocal element in the specialist annuity market argues that obligatory information about the OMO provides only part of the picture. What money purchase policyholders also need is inform...