Finally, a quick word on the old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Annuities are not quite gone but their demise is being widely predicted. While a reduction in new sales is likely it will not fall to the extent that many have predicted. The other significant change announced in the Budget was that providers will need to offer face-to-face guidance (swiftly changed from advice, as originally announced in the Budget). When faced with an array of different choices there will still be many who choose the certainty, simplicity and security offered by an annuity, be that for all their fund or just part of it.
Greg Kingston is head of marketing and proposition for Suffolk Life
Key points
Sipp providers have years of experience providing retirement income for those who choose not to annuitise
The lifetime allowance currently represents a highly unpalatable uncertainty for savers who start to approach it
Smaller Sipp providers are already under considerable pressure, built up by years of regulatory change, three thematic reviews and the soon-to-be published capital adequacy verdict
