The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed that almost 570,000 individual stakeholder pensions were sold in the first eight months that they were available, up to the end of November 2001.
The number of policies sold in November set a new monthly record, of 78,000.
ABI head of Life & Pensions Alan Woods said: "With just over 300,000 companies having now designated a stakeholder scheme and just over half a million individual policies sold, pension providers have achieved a lot over the last year.
"But it is essential that the importance of saving for the future continues to be communicated."
The ABI described the launch of stakeholder pensions, in April 2001, as one of the most important developments in the long-term savings market.
The government's Department of Work and Pensions has estimated that some five million people in the U.K. could eventually benefit from a stakeholder pension.
The government introduced the cheap, new tax-advantaged stakeholder pension, in a bid to encourage more low and middle-income earners to save for their old age.
With annual charges capped at just 1%, the fees are a lot lower than usual but insurance companies have limited incentive to sell them.
