Annuities

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.

Should clients defer buying an annuity following Budget changes?

Almost a third of UK adults do not know what changes to pensions were announced in the Budget or how they are affected, according to research.

Provider LV= has called for the introduction of new retirement solutions which could see providers and advisers split the risks inherent in providing income drawdown to the masses.