Defined benefit (DB) pension transfer values increased by 2.6 per cent during November to £156,000, marking the largest increase since March, XPS Pensions Group's Transfer Value Index has revealed.

The increase in transfer values, which was attributed primarily to the fall in gilt yields, breaks the trend of consistent falls seen over the past year.

Despite the increase in transfer values, XPS’s Transfer Activity Index saw a small decrease over November 2023, with an annualised rate of 21 members in every 1,000 transferring their benefits to alternative arrangements, marking the equal lowest value reported by the index.

However, XPS pointed out that the index has remained "very stable" in recent months, clarifying that while Transfer Value Index has risen this month, values are significantly lower than 18 months ago, which may be resulting in fewer people electing to transfer.

More broadly, the XPS Scam Flag Index showed that while the number of pension transfers raising at least one scam warning flag had increased by 6 percentage points since October to 90 per cent, this remains slightly lower than the trend over the past year.

XPS attributed this to a greater number of members continuing to purchase immediate annuities, compared to this time last year.

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