Annuities may become the most popular option for retirees if Britain exits the European Union in June, the founder of eValue believes.

Bruce Moss made the comments as his company’s data showed that one year on from pension freedoms, the gap has been narrowing between savers’ preference for flexible and guaranteed income.

Factors such as the EU referendum could increase that further still, he said.

Mr Moss said: “A clear finding from the first year of the Pensions Freedom Index is the increase in popularity of annuities every time there is a period of volatility in equity markets. In the run up to the referendum (and if Brexit does happen), don’t be surprised to discover that annuities become the most popular option for retirees.”

Market fluctuations and global volatility has sent consumers fleeing back to safety of annuities, eValue researchers said.

Mr Moss, founder and strategy director, said: “The first year of Pension Freedoms has shown once again the innate caution of the British public. Predictions of the death of annuities have turned out to be wide of the mark, as have concerns that retirees would cash out their pension funds to splurge on Lamborghinis.”

Over half (54%) of consumers preferred flexible income in retirement initially after the freedoms, compared to just a third (33%) opting for the guaranteed income of annuities in April 2015.

But by October 2015, annuities overtook flexible income as the preferred consumer choice, with almost half (47%) opting for guaranteed income over flexible income or cash.

At the first anniversary of Pension Freedoms, flexible income was once again leading consumer preference but only by 5%. The sharp narrowing of the gap in preference between annuities and flexible income from this time last year suggested that the pension reforms were a far off step from killing annuities, eValue’s report said.

eValue said its data from the last year showed that those with smaller pension pots prefer annuities and cash but, as the pension pot size grows, the preference for flexible income begins to dominate.

Two thirds (68%) of those with more than £150,000 in their pension pots preferred flexible income options, compared to just two fifths (40%) of those with a pot size of less that £50,000.

Since the introduction of Pension Freedoms, over 22,000 individuals have logged onto their pension providers’ calculators, powered by eValue, the company reported today.