Barnett Waddingham has called on the Bank of England to urgently review its use of quantitative easing with a view to either ceasing or substantially curtail the policy of pumping money into the economy.
Consultant Malcolm McLean said the benefits of QE to the wider economy and for stimulating growth were 'at best doubtful' and its impact on pensions and new or soon to be pensioners was 'the greatest concern'.
Yesterday, the Commons Treasury committee said QE had had a negative effect on pensioners' annuity returns. 'Loose monetary policy, achieved through quantitative easing and low interest rates, has redistributional effects, particularly penalising savers, those with 'drawdown pensions' and those retiring now,' it said.
MPs said the Bank of England should provide an estimate of the overall benefit and loss to pensioners and savers of bouts of QE.
Mr McLean today estimated that, since the Bank of England began QE in March 2009, a 65-year-old man with a £100,000 pension pot would now receive at least £1,000 a year less on a new annuity than he would have done three years ago. If he were to live for another 30 years, the loss would be over £30,000, he added.
'An individual in this situation would have very limited options given that QE was having a damaging effect on drawdown arrangements as well,' Mr McLean said.
'Staying on at work for a few extra years if that were possible might help the individual offset some of the loss but could have a wider impact in creating unemployment for younger people - another damaging wider effect of the policy.'
Last month, the National Association of Pension Funds said the most recent bout of £125bn of QE had contributed to a £90bn increase in pension schemes' deficits.
