UK. Four in five DB transfer requests raise scam warning

Four in five (83 per cent) defined benefit transfer requests have raised one or more warning flags, according to XPS Pensions Group.

The firm’s scam flag index recorded May to have the highest number of scam warnings in the tracker’s history, up from a near record high in March.

This is an increase of roughly 30 per cent since the beginning of 2022.

XPS Pensions Group client lead, member engagement hub, Helen Cavanagh, said: “We continue to see the rate of potential scam activity referrals tick up.

“The majority of transfers reviewed are now assessed against the new transfer value regulations, with the overseas investments flag registered in three quarters of cases where a flag was present.”

The group’s Transfer Value Index also identified that May’s month-end average transfer value was £217,000, the lowest since June 2016.

The fall of 7 per cent over May was due to a further increase in gilt yields and a further fall in long term inflation expectations, despite the continued current high inflation rates.

After a six-month period of decline, the rate of members completing transfers recorded by the XPS Transfer Activity Index rebounded slightly to an annualised rate of 37 members per 100,000.

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