Pension Transfer Values

Friday May 2018

Pension transfer values fell from £235,000 at the end of March to £232,000 at the end of April, according to Xafinity's Transfer Value Index (TVI).

The difference between the maximum and minimum readings of the TVI throughout the month was £6,700, or about 2.9%.

The fall in value undid the rise in March, where the opposite happened - values

Xafinity head of DB growth Sankar Mahalingham put the decline down to an increase in gilt yields.

"There was a fall in transfer values between the start and end of April, due mainly to an increase in gilt yields, with inflation remaining relatively stable," he explained.

"There was more volatility in transfer values during April than in recent months, at almost 3%, though this is still low compared to the volatility we saw during 2017, where, in some months the index fluctuated by over 5%."

Xafinity's index tracks the transfer value that would be provided by a hypothetical DB scheme to a member aged 64 who is entitled to a pension of £10,000 each year, starting at age 65. It increases each year in line with inflation.

Transfer values remained high during 2017, fluctuating throughout the year. By the end of the year, however, the hypothetical pension was worth £236,000 - little changed from the 2016 year-end figure of £234,000.