Since April, when the new rules came into effect, the Association of British Insurers say savers have withdrawn £4.7 billion from their pension pots.
£2.5 billion was paid out in 166,700 cash lump sum payments – an average payment of £15,000, while another £2.2 billion was paid out in income drawdown to 606,000 people (£3,600 on average).
Meanwhile, canny investors have continued to commit money to a range of pension savings schemes. Of a total of £5 billion invested, £2.9 billion was put into income drawdown products with an average fund size of £65,000. Another £2.2 billion was invested into annuities, with an average size of £53,300.
ABI Chairman Paul Evans said the figures showed people were looking for the best deal for their retirement.
‘Around half are now switching away from the company they saved with to secure the best deal for their retirement income,’ he said.
‘Overall, customers appear to be behaving rationally, and I think we can all be proud of the speed with which we responded to help the government’s reforms succeed.’
