Riding out the perfect storm

On 8 May, the Hartford shut its doors for business, officially exiting the UK four years after setting up shop. The move is a dramatic about face for arguably the most vocal advocate of variable annuities in the UK, hoisted on their own petard by the cost of unhedged guarantees. The Hartford's withdrawal from the UK life and pensions market provides a good opportunity to rebase expectations around a product that in theory is appealing but that in practice has not been attracting the volume of assets that everyone had expected. Too few IFAs are prepared to recommend variable annuities to ...