The number of pension transfers through the Origo Transfer Service has passed four million, while transfer times have fallen overall.
Since its launch in 2008 there has been more than four million transfers through the Origo Transfer Service. In the 12 months to 30 September 2019, 730,305 transfers were completed – a 26.5% rise in transfer volumes on the previous 12 months.
Elsewhere, data from Origo’s Transfer Index, which tracks the transfer performance of providers in the pension market, has shown a small decrease in the overall average pension ceding time. It has dropped from 9.3 calendar days for the year to 31 March 2019 to 8.9 calendar days for the year to 30 September 2019.
In July, Hargreaves Lansdown and Liberty SIPP were named as the slowest two providers to move pensions through the transfer service.
Origo managing director Anthony Rafferty said: “Passing the four million transfers mark is a terrific milestone in the history of the service. This is a reflection of its quality, the growing community of organisations using the service and the trust in which it is held by the industry.
“The continuing increases are primarily due to a general rise of transfer volumes across the Origo Transfer Service community, alongside new companies, such as NEST, signing up to the Transfer Service in the past 12 months. There are now over 100 brands using the service.”
On the decrease in pension ceding time, he added: “We are looking to further improve both the speed, security and the transparency of the transfer process. By publishing the times taken to transfer out of a pension, Origo and its community of administrators, master trusts, platforms and providers are encouraging other organisations to commit to greater transfer transparency and so create a benchmark for the industry as a whole to aim for.”