Nearly 50% of pension savers accessed their pension pots in the past 12 months without taking any regulated advice or guidance, The FCA’s Retirement Income Data reveals today.

National advisory group LEBC has seen the pension pots of clients buying an annuity grow for a sixth successive year.

The FCA has today fined Standard Life Assurance Limited (SLAL) £30,792,500 for failures related to non-advised sales of annuities.

Analysis of Government figures by pension and investment firm Aegon has found there are 840,000 retired couples in the UK who have a weekly income which would cost more than  £1.15m if bought as an annuity.