The £2.5 billion bulk-annuity deal announced Thursday between US manufacturer TRW Automotive and the UK insurer L&G means 2014 is now by far the biggest year for volumes in this growing market - and puts the seal on L&G's dominance of it.

Before Thursday, 2014 was already a record year for these corporate annuity deals, but only just - £7.9 billion's worth were signed in 2008, on the eve of the financial crash, and this year had already beaten that total, with £8.5 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to analysis from pensions consultancy LCP.