Final Salary Pension Transfer Advice Required

dunstonh

 I haven't seen that figure quoted but am happy to defer to dunstan's superior knowledge and experience.

The figure was often quoted as 9 times out of 10 it is best not to transfer (hence why you see 90% of the time often mentioned).   However, that originates from the period before CETVs skyrocketed.      There was a publication (I think it was Treasury) that stated the figure was around 6x%.  I cannot recall the exact figure. This was in the last year or two and took into account the massive increase in CETVs.       I didn't keep a copy and didn't give it much thought as it seemed relatively logical that the way CETVs have gone up and the multiples often seen today, compared to in the past, would see the ratio change.

 I find this difficult to believe but am open to persuasion from industry insiders. If correct, and given the current regulator climate, this suggests that only blatantly inadvisable cases are denied a positive recommendation. Ergo, insistent clients must be barking mad.

The FCA is still very defensive in a number of areas.  DB transfers being one of them.   Effectively, DB transfer advice is considered a missale unless proven otherwise.  So, a threshold has to be met for the advice to be considered suitable.  That threshold is higher than say someone investing £20k in an ISA.     The increased focus on DB transfers has inevitably resulted in the threshold being higher than what it was before the FCA turned it into a hot potato.