Guaranteed Retirement Income

New pension products have become available over recent months. These are known as "Third Way" or "Variable Annuities" and they provide guarantees such as:

Income guarantee
Fund value guarantee

These new type of products aim to provide an element of secured income, combined with some of the flexibility on an Income Drawdown plan. However, there are a number of different plans all offering different guarantees and different risks.

This type of plan is most appropriate for people who want the flexibility of an Income Drawdown but do not want their income to be directly affected by changes in the stockmarket.

Generally these products will guarantee to provide a set level of income based on a percentage of the fund value at outset for a guaranteed period of time. At the end of this period if the fund value has increased your income will be increased. If, however, your fund value has fallen your income will still remain at the existing guaranteed income level.

Some products will also "lock-in" the growth that has been achieved either on an annual basis or at an agreed date. Once the agreed growth is "locked in" this will be part of the guaranteed fund value at maturity or on death within the term.

To discuss your options call one of our pensions specialists on our FREE helpline or complete the quick enquiry form so we can contact you.

Download our comprehensive pension options guide by clicking on the above image.

Financial Advisers

Jonathan Walker
Jonathan is the director and joint owner of the Pension Drawdown Company.

Robert Bolton
Robert is a practising Barrister and is also fully qualified as a Diplomaed Financial Adviser.

Bob Diamond
Bob is a Pension Specialist who has been with the company since its incorporation in 1996. Bob has been a financial adviser since 1989.

Andrew Ross
Andrew is a diplomaed financial adviser with a history in banking.

Roger Easterbrook
Roger is a diplomaed financial adviser with a background in Executive Search.

Click here for more team members.

Market Monitor

Updated: 14th May 2012

Heavy selling following the elections in Europe and banking woes in Spain resulted in markets ending the week lower. Weekend elections in Greece and France set a volatile tone and reminded investors that politics really matter in financial markets; political wrangling in Athens to form a government resulted in threats to unravel the country's bailout deal and raised the prospect of Greece exiting the euro area.

Global stocks had their longest losing period in six months during the week and the euro its worse run of daily reverses since 2008.

However, Thursday marked a turning point as investors cautiously returned to markets and risk assets showed resilience following $2bn trading losses at JPMorgan Chase (which also occurred on Thursday). In addition, the Michigan survey of US consumer confidence, which rose to a four-year high in May, also helped to provide support and end the week on a more upbeat note.

The increasingly gloomy outlook for the global economy sent commodity prices to their second week of losses, and gold retreated to four month lows. Weakness in the global economy drove demand for safe-haven government bonds, which pushed German bunds and UK gilts to record lows, while peripheral eurozone debt came under heavy selling pressure.

Important information: This update is intended to be for information purposes only.

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