Three things we learned this week

Retirement Planner’s round-up of the top pension stories this week.

Advisers say Widows' annuity return good for consumers

IFAs have welcomed Scottish Widows' plan to re-enter the IFA annuity market as a move they said will boost competition in the sector.

Today Widows announced its plans to re-engage with the IFA annuity market, and is considering a similar strategy for the IFA protection market.

Billy Burrows, director of Better Retirement Group, said: "There are currently only three or four players in the non-enhanced annuity space, so any entry to the market is a good thing."

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NAPF proposes national annuity brokerage

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has proposed a nationalised brokerage system to help retirees get the best annuity rate and reform the current "toxic system".

It said the government should monitor the success of the open market option (OMO) more closely, as the "unfair" way most annuities are currently sold is wiping up to £1bn off retirees' future income.

The NAPF said if take-up of the OMO does not improve, the government should intervene with a national system.

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Pensions warning as mortality rate improves

The mortality rate in England and Wales continued to improve last year, prompting actuaries to warn of a knock-on effect on pensions.

The number of deaths fell to 484,000 in 2011, the third year in a row they were below 500,000, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

Actuaries Punter Southall said falling death rates would make it more expensive to fund pension schemes.

To read more click HERE