Origo’s latest Transfer Index shows that pension transfer times remain steady for the 12-month period encompassing 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022, despite latest data showing transfer volumes have been rising; they are 64% higher in the last 12 months than in 2018.
The overall number of days for ceding pensions from one pension provider to another, was 13.3 days for the latest period, slightly faster than the 13.5 days recorded for the 12 months to end of March 2022.
Commenting on the latest data, Anthony Rafferty, CEO Origo says: “Pension transfer times as measured by the Origo Transfer Index, have suffered since the beginning of the pandemic but since October 2021, the average transfer time across the OTI has stabilised, at a little over 13 calendar days, although many are carried out within minutes.
“Given the far higher volume of transfers being dealt with now than four years ago, this can be seen to reflect positively on the 28 participants in the Origo Transfer Index.
“Participation in the OTI is on a voluntary basis, and we are grateful to the 28 companies who have agreed to publish their data in the interests of transparency and to help improve the transfer times and outcomes for pension holders.
“The Origo Transfer Index measures both overall times, which will include cases where the provider may not have control over the entire process, and an average for ‘simpler’ transfers, where the provider has complete control over the transfer process. The latter took an average across the group of 11.4 calendar days in the 12-month period to end of June (it was also 11.4 days for the 12 months to end of March 2022).
“It is in everyone’s interests that transfers are executed as quickly as possible and Origo’s automated Transfer Service has been instrumental in helping to reduce times significantly since it was launched in 2008. We continue to work with the industry to help bring transfer times down wherever possible.”
[Main image: robin-schreiner-tF2Ta8qLEAU-unsplash]
