An Overview of International Deferred Annuity Markets

Abstract

In recent years, the deferred annuity has aroused intensive discussion as a retirement solution product. In the course of understanding reasons behind the low demand of immediate annuities, two behavioural models, cumulative prospect theory and the hyperbolic discount model, have suggested that deferred annuity products would be popular among retirees. Therefore, in this paper, we provide an overview of the deferred annuity in several international markets, in terms of its availability, sales and demand, and relevant government policies. We find that, in general, there is an increasing awareness of and discussions around the world about deferred annuity products. However, the market share of the deferred annuity is very limited so far, unless there is an encouragement by the government using specific tax rules and regulation policies.