It was supposed to be the change that would lead to a bonanza for fund managers. But six months on from the launch of the UK government’s “pensions freedoms” reforms, which allow retirees to avoid buying annuities, it is becoming clear that asset managers may have to be patient if they hope to take a larger slice of the reworked market.

The opportunities are clear. Retirees' pensions assets, which would previously have flowed onto the balance sheet of insurance companies, could now instead end up with asset managers as they increasingly offer post-retirement investment products, known as income drawdown funds.