The History of Tontines

Back in 1653, retirees hated buying annuities, just like they still do today. This was a growing problem for cities & countries which for centuries had funded themselves by issuing annuities.

Lorenzo De Tonti, a former banker, proposed a simple but radical improvement to the 2000 year old annuity: When a retiree dies, instead of cancelling their payout for your own benefit, share it among the survivors so that their payouts will increase over time.

Initially rejected as too generous by the King of France, the first 'tontines' were issued in 1670 by the rich Dutch cities of Kampen & Groningen. France, England, Germany & Ireland followed as demand for tontines exploded from retirees all over Europe. Tontines immediately dominated the European pensions industry & would have continued to do so but for the arrival of central banks which provided governments access to cheaper funding.

Then in 1876, Equitable Life in the US issued an annuity with tontine-like benefits. The tontine effect proved so popular that theses came to dominate 64% of revenues, growing the insurance industry by 600% until over 50% of households owned a Tontine Pension.

The Insurers however existed to serve their stockholders rather than their customers. As a result, rampant fraud emerged across the industry including charging for unnecessary guarantees even though the customers were the ones sharing all of the risk. Following a massive investigation in 1906, the New York regulator banned them from profiteering at the expense of tontine members. The Insurers withdrew the beloved tontines, returning to the hated -but far more profitable- guaranteed annuities which they still offer today.

Our Mission

Fast forward to today where better healthcare means that 300 million over 50-year-olds are living in the "rich" OECD countries. What is bankrupting the OECD public servant pensions is the same problem that now risks doing the same to private savers: 33% of men & 43% of women will live into their 90's.

Nobody enjoys the prospect of a 40+ year game of financial Russian roulette which is why it is no surprise that 70% of over-50's are interested in a lifetime income solution OTHER THAN a historical annuity.

This is why we created our award winning & globally patent pending platform. Our fully digital solution will enable users to sign-up online for a simple, safe & transparent monthly income which they can trust to continue until age 120.

Studies shows that when you remove the fear/risk of running out of money, your lifestyle, health & even your IQ can improve. For this reason we know that our platform will ultimately help societies as well as individuals.