According to MetLife, the annuity market is growing at a good rate and fixed-term annuities are expected to experience a surge in sales in the next few months. This is due to ingenuity and more competition in the pensions market as a whole.

MetLife currently claims that fixed-term annuity sales are between £350 million and £400 million each year and predicts that this number will double and nearly triple to £1 billion per year by 2013. This growth over the next two years is down to worry over increasing healthy life expectancy, demand for flexibility with retirement income, and other options to use rather than conventional annuities. These last two are most likely due in part to government pension scheme reforms.

Have a look at our annuity calculator to discover the best rates for you.

An Alternative Option for Retirement Income

Pensions are not expected to be able to cover the entire cost of retirement anymore, as a result of pension reform. Therefore, looking into annuities and other options for income in retirement are becoming more popular.

If you would like to know more about what your options are for an annuity, have a look at our annuity enquiry form, which will put you in touch with an independent financial adviser who will help you discover the best options and rates for you.

MetLife UK managing director, Dominic Grinstead, has put the competition down to new products and companies. He said, “Competition is increasing in the fixed-term annuity market with new entrants, and innovative products being launched, and that is certain to drive growth.

“Clearly fixed-term annuities are not suitable for all, but they enable advisers and clients to make a choice based on their circumstances now, and then change their mind in the future as their circumstances change.”

“Innovations”

Kim Lerche-Thomsen is the chief executive officer of a company called Living Time, which has been a pioneer in the annuity market since 2006. Last February, MetLife became the company’s main distributor, selling their products. Mr. Thomsen detailed that fixed term annuities hold a strong position in the market, having done so since they were introduced in 2006 and cites them as one of the “innovative products” mentioned by Grinstead.

Take a look at our annuity comparison table below, for the best rates and prices for you.

Annuities become income for the rest of a consumer’s lifetime. They can be purchased from money received in a pension scheme if the consumer is either over 55 or part of a defined contribution pension plan like company money purchase schemes, or personal or stakeholder pension.

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