The chart belows plots the daily 15 year gilt yield*
*The yields are taken daily from the Financial Times - Gilts - UK FTSE Actuaries Indices (over 15 years). In general terms if yields are falling the annuity trend will be downwards and if yields are rising the trend maybe upwards. The relationship between gilt yields is complex and it dosn't necessarily follow that annuities and yields move in the same direction or at the same time.
¹ Male age 65, Female 60, £100,000 purchase, joint life 2/3rds, guaranteed 5 years and level payments
¹ Male age 65, £10,000 purchase, single life, guaranteed 5 years and level payments
² Yield on 15 year gilts
³ The FTSE 100 Index is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
This chart shows how annuity rates and gilt yields (left hand axis) move in parallel. This should come as no surprise as annuity rates are priced in relation to the yield on gilts and corporate bonds.
The chart also shows how the FTSE (right hand axis) has moved over the same period. Notice the so-called double whammies in 2000 and 2008 when both annuity rates and the stock market fell at the same time