I think it's possible that those that bought an all in HYP a la pyad as an annuity alternative have nothing more to say or do, probably hardly frequented or at least contributed to the TMF boards and similarly don't need to waste their days over here chatting about triming, top ups or weightings, diversification or minimum number of pick.
A few years ago I made some comparisons with the performance of PYAD's HYP1 demonstartion potfolio and an annuity that could have been purchased at the same time with the same money. I repeated the comparison a couple of times (here's a link to year 11:
http://boards.fool.co.uk/hyp1-benchmark-comparison-12407288.aspx)
A good annuity rate at the time for a flat rate annuity was £5662 and £5212 (60 YO male and female respectively)
As you can see after 11 years the income from HYP1 still didn't match the flat rate annuity. However one could argue that occasionally pruning and reallocating investments in the HYP and it might have done better income wise; also perhaps HYP1 just happens to have existed in a particularly bad time span (aren't they all) but it still has the advantage of being available for all manner of other uses (kid's house deposit, passing on when you pass on etc..) Also the HYP could be in an ISA where withdrawl could be tax free or presumably drawdown from a SIPP could be managed to be more tax efficient in comparison to an annuity? However the HYP seems to be increasing reliant on a few dominant shares that make up the majority of the dividend payments and thus could be vulnerable to a shock in the future if one of those companies flies into a flock of black swans.
It's worth noting that now 16 years on from its inception HYP1 has finally outstripped the flat rate annuity but it took 13 years to do so (2013 it produce £5828) although it fell back below the male annuity in 2014 by a few pounds (£5601) before hitting £6093 in 2015, not sure about the 2016 figures but looking foward to seeing them, I expect it will be accelerating away from the annuity now.
What does that say about HYP as an "immediate replacement" for an annuity? Well it certainly indicates that it's more complicated than one might think and you must seriously consider a range of factors other than the headline income rate when comparing. For me the HYP wins on most counts, but for a short life expectancy retiree with no heirs and who wants a simple life then perhaps the annuity has some serious merit? Mind you I think annuity rates are not as good now so maybe not....