Defined benefit pension transfer values have fallen to pre-lockdown levels following the largest month-on-month decline.
According to XPS's Transfer Watch, a 5% drop in transfer values was recorded in February 2021 from the month before. This means transfer values are now returning to levels last seen in March 2020 before the first national Covid lockdown. The fall in values has been attributed to a rise in government bond yields throughout the month. This in turn increased discount rates used to value members' benefits. Transfer activity has not been impacted and this has remained consistently over 0.60% for the past five consecutive months, XPS added. "Transfer values plunged during February, retur...
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