Just Retirement has reported a drop in annuities sales of more than 25 per cent in the first three months of 2013.
The company’s annuities sales totalled £230.6m for the first quarter of 2013, compared with £313.2m for the same period a year ago.
Lifetime mortgage advances however were up by 1.7 per cent to £69.8m for the start of 2013, while total group sales stood at £300.4m.
Rodney Cook, chief executive of Just Retirement, said the slow down in sales was expected as a result of the Retail Distribution Review and gender regulatory changes.
He pointed out Just Retirement delivered record total group sales of £1,247m for the business year to 31 March 2013, an increase of 20 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Mr Cook said: “Feedback we have received from intermediaries suggests the reduction in the third quarter is representative of the total intermediated market.
“Financial intermediaries have achieved a significant transformation but are continuing to adjust to operating in a post-RDR world. We continue to support their transition as they make refinements to their market propositions.
“We are pleased to see that activity levels have increased but are not expected to return to normalised levels until the mid-year.”
He said Just Retirement had agreed a deal to provide Origen Financial Services with individually underwritten annuities to support the new Aegon open market option annuity service.
