Just Retirement boss Rodney Cook hails “resilient” performance in post-pension freedom market
Insurer Just Retirement showed the effects of George Osborne's pension reforms yesterday, with total retirement sales down 9.9 per cent in the year to 30 June.
Sales of retirement products dropped to £1.15bn from £1.27bn in what the company described as “a largely pre-Budget comparative period”.
However, shares in the firm were up by 1.69 per cent in in early trading, as chief executive Rodney Cook pointed to a “resilient performance”, which saw the company move towards defined benefit de-risking products as a replacement for lost annuities income.
Defined benefit De-risking Solutions became Just Retirement's biggest product last year, after launching in 2013, growing from £92.1m to £608.9m – a 561 per cent increase. The company revised its sales expections for the current half year to £400m, a 33 per cent increase from its previous forecast of £300m.
The company recently announced a proposed merger with Partnership Assurance, and Cook said today that the discussions are progressing well, and that he is confident the deal will go ahead.
Cook said: “This is our first full year set of results since the Budget 2014 pension reforms, and I hope our resilient performance will not be forgotten amid the excitement of the proposed merger with Partnership Assurance Group.”