A new era beginning forannuities

The once sleepy world of annuities has been shaken up. The advent of greater customer segmentation, refined underwriting techniques and the introduction of impaired life annuities is generating greater opportunities for advisers and providers which is resulting in customers benefiting from better value and wider choice. The annuity market continues to grow in size (see the graph right). In 2002 annuity business was estimated to be over £7bn and in the first quarter of this year has already grown by 29%. The future business prospects for this market look exceptionally good. This is mainl...