Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:15:31.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of the reforms to compulsion on annuity demand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Edmund Cannon*
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Ian Tonks*
Affiliation:
University of Bath
Rob Yuille*
Affiliation:
Association of British Insurers

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of recent regulatory changes to the compulsory annuitisation of tax-privileged pension savings, on the demand for annuities and other retirement products. We find that the demand for annuities has fallen by almost 75 per cent from its peak in 2012, and the demand for income drawdown products has increased. There is some evidence that people at younger ages and with smaller pension pots are choosing not to annuitise, and hence the average size of an annuity purchase has increased.

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This article was presented at the NIESR conference on pension reform, December 2015. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the ABI.

References

Agnew, J.R., Anderson, L.R., Gerlach, J.R. and Szykman, L.R. (2008), ‘Who chooses annuities? An experimental investigation of the role of gender, framing, and defaults’, American Economic Review, 98(2), pp. 418–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antolín, P., Pugh, C. and Stewart, F. (2008), Forms of Benefit Payment at Retirement, Working Papers on Insurance and Private Pensions, Paris: OECD, 26.Google Scholar
Bateman, H. and Piggott, J. (2011), ‘Too much risk to insure? The Australian (non-) market for annuities’, Chapter 6 in Mitchell, O.S., Piggott, J. and Takayama, N., Securing Lifelong Retirement Income: Global Annuity Markets and Policy, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Blake, D., Cannon, E.S. and Tonks, I. (2010), ‘Ending compulsory annuitisation: quantifying the consequences’, The Pensions Institute.Google Scholar
Brown, J.R. (2001), ‘Private pensions, mortality risk, and the decision to annuitize’, Journal of Public Economics, 82(1), pp. 2962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cannon, E.S. and Tonks, I. (2008), Annuity Markets, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cannon, E.S. and Tonks, I. (2011), ‘Compulsory and voluntary annuity markets in the United Kingdom’, in Mitchell, O.S., Piggott, J. and Takayama, N., Securing Lifelong Retirement Income: Global Annuity Markets and Policy, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cannon, E.S. and Tonks, I. (2013), ‘Cohort mortality risk or adverse selection in the UK annuity market?’, Discussion Paper, Pensions Institute.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dilnot, A. and Johnson, P. (1994), The Taxation of Private Pensions, London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.Google Scholar
FCA (2014), Does the Framing of Retirement Income Options Matter? A Behavioural Experiment, London: Financial Conduct Authority.Google Scholar
FCA (2016), Retirement Income Market Data July-September 2015, London: Financial Conduct Authority.Google Scholar
FSA (2004), Guide to Pension Annuities, Financial Services Authority.Google Scholar
FSA (2009), MoneyMadeClear Guidelines on Income Withdrawal, Financial Services Authority.Google Scholar
FSA (2010), Guide to Pension Annuities and Pension Fund Withdrawal, Financial Services Authority.Google Scholar
HMTreasury (2014), Freedom and Choice in Pensions, March.Google Scholar
HMTreasury (2015), Strengthening the Incentive to Save: A Consultation on Pensions Tax Relief.Google Scholar
Inkmann, J., Lopes, P. and Michaelides, A. (2011), ‘How deep is the annuity market participation puzzle?’, Review of Financial Studies, 24(1), p. 279319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KPMG (2015), Freeing the Future? Market Impacts of the Pension Freedom Reforms.Google Scholar
Mitchell, O. and Utkus, S.P. (2004), Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance, Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poterba, J.M. (2001), ‘Annuity markets and retirement security’, Fiscal Studies, 22(3), pp. 249–70.Google Scholar
Yaari, M. (1965), ‘Uncertain lifetime, life assurance, and the theory of the consumer’, Review of Economic Studies, 32(2), pp. 137–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yermo, J. (2001), Private Annuities in OECD Countries, OECD 2000 Private Pensions Conference, OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Cannon, et al. Supplementary Material

Cannon, et al. Supplementary Material

Download Cannon, et al. Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 285.5 KB