Defined benefit (DB) pension transfer activity fell slightly during March, with an annualised rate of 38 members per 100,000 transferring out of the current scheme to an alternative arrangement, the XPS Transfer Activity Index has revealed.

The index showed that while there was a slight increase in transfer activity at the start of 2023, the volume of transfers being seen has since returned to the levels recorded six months ago in August and September 2022.

In contrast, the index found that DB transfer values increased by around 4% to finish the month at £175,000, the same month end level as in January 2023.

XPS Pensions attributed this increase to a slight fall in gilt yields during the month.

Alongside the DB transfer index updates, XPS’s Scam Flag Index revealed that 90% of cases reviewed by the XPS Scam Protection Service in March raised at least one scam warning flag.

Despite the high figure, this marked a slight fall from the previous month and is the lowest the scams index has seen since May 2022.


This article first appeared on our sister title, Pensions Age.

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