Market forces combine to create an attractive environment for annuity sales. Annuity sales have reached a 10-year high and rose 24% from 2023 to 2024. Research from the Association of British Insurers shows that 89,600 pension annuity contracts were sold last year, representing a 24% increase on 2023. The total value of those sales, £7bn, also jumped from the year …
Annuity sales soar to £7bn in 2024 with more retirees taking advice
More joint life and inflation-linked policies purchased Total annuity sales reached £7bn in 2004, an increase of 34% year-on-year, according to latest data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Some 89,600 annuity contracts were written in 2024 surpassing last year’s total and reaching a new ten-year high, the body said. The ABI’s data also showed more annuity purchases occurred …
Bank of England slashes interest rates by 25bps to lowest level in 18 months
First MPC meeting of the year The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee has cut interest rates by a quarter point, from 4.75% to 4.5%. Seven MPC members voted in favour of the interest rate cut, while two preferred a 50bps snip. The Bank argued that over the past two years, there has been a “substantial progress on disinflation …
HL, Quilter and AJ Bell CEOs urge Reeves to reconsider IHT on pensions
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced at the Budget last October that some pensions will be liable to inheritance tax upon death from April 2027. The CEOs of four of the UK’s biggest providers have written to the chancellor urging her to rethink the government’s ‘flawed and damaging’ policy of levying inheritance tax (IHT) on pensions from 2027, Citywire New Model …
UK inflation lowers to 2.5% in December
Down from 2.6% in November The UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) dropped to 2.5% in December, below FactSet’s consensus of 2.8% for the month. According to data from the Office for National Statistics today (15 January), the downward trend was driven by restaurants and hotels, with the latter recording a 1.9% decline in prices over the month, as opposed to …
Gilt yield drama makes rising annuity rates ‘hard to ignore’
Dramatic spike in government borrowing costs January started in dramatic fashion for government borrowing with a significant cost spike which saw the 15-year gilt yield standing at 5.17%, compared to 4.23% on the same date the previous year. Uncertainty about the performance of the UK economy and the ramifications for inflation after Donald Trump returns to the White House are …