Transfers into Sipps leap up - pension freedoms report

Transfers into Sipps are up 36% over the year and transfers of pensions into drawdown products doubled since April, new analysis released this morning has shown. The insight into how consumers are responding to the Pension Freedoms since they were introduced also showed that the total value of transfers increased.There was an extra £2bn being moved between pensions and into drawdown between April and October 2015, compared to the previous six months, the data from Origo demonstrated.Paul Pettitt, managing director of Origo, said: “The doubling of transfers into drawdown, combined with the increased activity into Sipps and between pensions, would suggest that consumers are looking to take advantage of the Pensions Freedoms and are moving their money where they are more able to access it under the new rules, which has resulted in these percentage uplifts.”Other headline findings that the firm reported today included a 6% increase in the average size of pension pot transferred - rising from £46k to £54k. Pension to pension transfers were up 31% over the year. {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}Pension to annuity transfers were down 67% over the past year but this trend may have bottomed out, the report stated, as numbers have increased over the last four months.According to Origo, its Options Transfers service handles around 95% of contract pensions transfers in the market, thereby providing a good indicator of market trends, said Mr Pettitt.He said: “What also is interesting is that, following a massive drop off in volumes of transfers into annuities after the Chancellor’s Pensions Freedoms announcement in the 2014 Budget – 80% when comparing Q1 2014 with Q1 2015 data – the latest figures reveal a 35% increase in pension transfers into annuities since Q1 of this year.“Although pension freedoms have seen more people move towards drawdown products, the figures suggest that there has been a partial return to the security that annuities offer. Clearly, we are at an early stage and, from statistical perspective, at least another six to nine months data would be needed to be sure about this trend.”

Transfers into Sipps leap up - pension freedoms report

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