Protection and bond sales slide but pensions soar

ABI life and pensions new business data for Q2 2008 reveals sales of single premium individual protection products slumped by almost 20% to £305m in Q2 2008 compared with the same period last year. Regular premium new business sales fell only marginally, by 1.1% to £215m compared with Q2 2007, but this still represents a huge fall from Q3 2006 when new business sales hit £236m. Conversely, regular premium occupational pensions new business climbed 44.9% in Q2 2008 compared with the same period last year, while individual pensions rose 12.5% to £976m. Single premium occupational pensio...