That was still enough to take its assets under management to an all-time high of £463bn however.
Parent company Legal & General Group booked record bulk annuity sales of £3.045bn in the quarter and a 21% rise in net cash to £301m, while operational cash was up 6% to £297m. The record annuity sales number was the result of a single £3bn deal with the ICI pension fund.
The picture was very different for individual annuity sales which Legal & General said were down 40% to £244m from £406m in Q1 2013.
Group chief executive Nigel Wilson was predictably bullish on the company’s prospects despite expectations of a continued drop-off in the individual annuity market prompted by the government’s regulatory changes.
"We already benefit from favourable demographic trends; we have economically and socially useful products for customers; and with our LGIM economists forecasting 3% plus economic growth in the UK and US, we are excited about the prospects for our business," he said.
"There is strong demand for our pension de-risking and protection products in both markets – the £1.8 trillion of UK DB liabilities will provide substantial future business,” he added. He also said L&G forecasts the UK DC market will grow from around £250bn today to £3 trillion by 2030 and added that the recent agreement to acquire a US DC provider Global Index Advisors will accelerate its growth in that market.
