Annuities

In this week's Retirement Planner news round-up we highlight five key stories you might have missed over the past seven days.

Four out of five investment advisers are concerned that inappropriate products are being rushed to market to take advantage of changes announced in the Budget, research has found.

London & Colonial (L&C) has launched an annuity contract with a ‘cash-out' option, which it claims is the first of its kind on the market.

Aviva UK has reported a 21% drop in the value of new life business it wrote in the first half of the year, mainly due to a steep fall in annuity business.

Annuity margins at insurer Standard Life were down 59% in the first half of the year due to the sweeping changes to retirement income announced in the Budget, latest results show.

Millions of pension savers will be prevented from taking cash freely from their retirement funds next April unless they pay hefty penalties that could slash their pots by more than 20%, according to reports.

Annuity sales have dropped 43.8% year on year as retirees wait for pension freedoms to begin in April 2015, according to latest research.

Mutual LV= has reported strong annuity sales for the second quarter of the year despite the sweeping changes to retirement income announced in the 2014 Budget.

Three quarters of advisers say clients are considering blended pension solutions as a result of the Budget retirement income reforms, according to a poll from LV=.

Annuities will continue to be a substantial part of the at-retirement market in ten years' time, albeit with a smaller market share, research by Towers Watson suggests.