Budget 2014: Life companies tumble and Hargreaves jumps after pensions and savings reform

clock

Hargreaves Lansdown's shares rose on news the government is set to increase the personal ISA allowance to £15,000, whilst life company stocks tumbled, after chancellor George Osborne unveiled the latest Budget.

Life insurers and pension providers saw shares fall after Osborne said the rules on investing in annuities would be relaxed.

Annuity provider Just Retirement group plummeted 23%, while Partnership Assurance Group, a provider of non-standard annuities for individuals with medical conditions, shed 10% shortly after the announcement. 

Standard Life, Prudential and Aviva all fell by between 2% to 3%. 

Bookmakes also suffered as Osborne clamped down further on fixed-odds betting terminals.

Ladbrokes fell 12%, while William Hill dropped by 6%.

However Hargreaves' shares jumped 6% after the ISA allowance changes, which also saw the cash ISA merged in to the stocks and shares ISA.

The FTSE 100 index as a whole was broadly unchanged, down 0.2% for the day. 

More on Insurer

Holloway Friendly pays out £5m in 2024

Holloway Friendly pays out £5m in 2024

20% increase year on year

Cameron Roberts
clock 01 May 2025 • 1 min read
LV= pays out almost £137m in 2024

LV= pays out almost £137m in 2024

£2m increase year-on-year

Cameron Roberts
clock 30 April 2025 • 2 min read
L&G launches third CMO report instalment

L&G launches third CMO report instalment

Covers return-to-work outcomes

Jaskeet Briah
clock 30 April 2025 • 1 min read

Highlights

COVER Survey: Advisers damning of protection insurer service levels

COVER Survey: Advisers damning of protection insurer service levels

"It takes longer than ever to get underwriting terms"

John Brazier
clock 12 October 2023 • 5 min read
Online reviews trump price for young people selecting life and health cover

Online reviews trump price for young people selecting life and health cover

According to latest ReMark report

John Brazier
clock 11 October 2023 • 2 min read
ABI members with staff neurodiversity policy nearly doubles

ABI members with staff neurodiversity policy nearly doubles

Women within executive teams have grown to 32%

Jaskeet Briah
clock 10 October 2023 • 3 min read