PensionsJan 13 2016

Aegon UK looks set to ditch annuity business

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Aegon UK looks set to ditch annuity business

Legal & General is rumoured to be interested in buying Aegon UK’s annuity business.

Last year, Aegon UK said it was reviewing its annuity portfolio as part of a wider look at its business.

In November, Aegon UK revealed total new life sales were down 30 per cent to £139m, primarily due to lower demand for traditional pension products.

Rothesay Life, which purchased Zurich’s legacy UK annuity business in May, has also been touted as a possible buyer for Aegon UK’s portfolio.

Neither L&G nor Rothesay Life has commented on the rumours so far.

An Aegon UK spokesman said: “In September we confirmed we’d initiated a review of our UK annuity portfolio. This process continues, and we will update the market in due course.”

Despite the review of Aegon UK’s businesses, chief executive Adrian Grace has said the Dutch-owned company, which is based in Edinburgh, is committed to the UK.

In an internal note in September, he stated: “We have built a market-leading platform which continues to be the fastest growing platform both by percentage and in terms of asset growth.”