As the fallout from the government’s decision to pull the plug on the second hand annuity market continues there is no doubt that some in the industry are feeling pretty peeved off.
One company Auction My Annuity has already folded, while the minister responsible for making the announcement has been largely castigated.
During the twenty minutes this editorial was being composed no less than five [and counting] press notices from companies welcoming the move arrived in Financial Adviser’s collective news and features teams' email inboxes.
What appeared to get people really riled, and no prizes for guessing exactly what, was the amount of money – now effectively ‘wasted’ – spent preparing for the introduction of the market.
But the fact is the industry did not embrace the government’s plans with leading annuities experts such as Billy Burrows warned that the idea was unworkable.
Elliott Silk, head of employee benefits Sanlam was one of those pleased the idea has been scrapped. He believes it would have added an extra layer of complexity in what is already a complicated retirement playing field.
The fact is most of the industry were not behind the plans in the first place.
Two weeks ago, at FTAdviser’s Retirement Freedoms Forum in Chepstow speakers from across the industry all but begged the government to ‘leave pensions alone’.
The sentiments were heartfelt from both advisers and providers, and led by Steve Webb, a former pensions minister.
Maybe the government heard them? Whether it did or not, it appears to have been a brave decision; because it has been so unpopular with consumers and the mainstream press.
However, those in the pensions industry know that it’s better have a costly U-turn now than a major mis-selling scandal ten years in the future.
