Two years after George Osborne unleashed pension freedoms on the UK, the industry remains fiercely divided over the implications of the former chancellor's radical retirement policy.
The policy, which went live on 5 April 2015, essentially scrapped compulsory annuitisation, freeing up over-55s to spend their pension savings exactly as they wished.
This led to a dramatic fall in demand for annuities and caused the share price of life insurance companies that sold them to plummet.
As a result, many providers exited the annuity market altogether, shifting their attention to the burgeoning drawdown market.
The former chancellor-turned-newspaper editor's controversial policy also placed unprecedented levels of responsibility on the shoulders of individuals, leading to an increased need for financial advice and guidance.
To mark the second anniversary of pension freedoms, FTAdviser spoke to a number of providers, advisers and independent experts to get their views on how the policy had gone so far.
Most agreed that it was too early to know for certain what the long-term effects of this huge change would be, but beyond that there were a broad range of views.
The life insurance industry, as represented by the Association of British Insurers, was upbeat.
“The Freedom and Choice reforms were among the most significant pension policy changes the UK has seen since the 1920s," the ABI's head of retirment policy Rob Yuille said.
"Given the scale and speed with which these reforms were introduced, the pensions industry has shown itself to be remarkably robust and adaptable.
"It was inevitable that fewer people would choose a guaranteed income for life if they had the option of a lump sum, but after an initial dash for cash the market is settling with the majority of funds going into either a guaranteed income for life or a flexible income product," he said.
Prudential was one of the several life companies that withdrew from the annuity market as a result of pension freedoms.
Vince Smith-Hughes, a retirement expert at the firm, said the biggest change to come out the freedoms was the shift from annuities to drawdown products.
"Where once drawdown was only for the relatively wealthy investor, it has now become more accessible and can be used by people even with modest pensions funds.
"However with this flexibility comes complexity. If the intention is to make income last a lifetime, then advisers need to consider what sustainable income can be taken," he said.
Former pensions minister Ros Altmann was generally positive about the reforms, saying the move away from compulsory annuitisation was to be welcomed.
"As people are living much longer they can benefit from investment market returns for longer than before which can give them a better later life," she said.
"Indeed many people were buying annuities even though they were still working. The old system was broken and often failed to work in the customer's interest."
