Pension transfers hit record £10.6bn in Q1

£34.2bn transferred last year

Hannah Godfrey
clock • 1 min read

Transfers between all types of pension hit a record £10.6bn in the first quarter of this year, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown.

Last calendar year's total of £34.2bn has been revised up £2.5bn to £36.8bn, almost triple the £12.8bn transferred in 2016.  According to AJ Bell senior analyst Tom Selby, the "vast majority" of the pension transfers were likely to be people quitting defined benefit (DB) schemes in favour of more flexible defined contribution plans. He said a large number of the Q1 figures were likely to be British Steel workers transferring away from the British Steel Pension Scheme. Selby said the "stampede" to quit DB pension schemes shows no sign of slowing down. "We have witnessed a perfect...

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