The treasury has made a promise that since the mismanagement of private pension transfers from the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), the FCA will make an effort to “stamp out bad practice.” So what exactly happened, and what comes next?
Members of the (Defined Benefit) BSPS were given the choice to transfer to a new scheme, sponsored by Tata Steel UK but with lower indexation, or to go into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), the UK’s pension lifeboat fund which cuts benefits by 10% for those who are yet to retire. 83,000 of the scheme’s 122,000 members opted to transfer to the new BSPS with reduced benefits (but higher payments than those that transferred to the PPF) but roughly 2,600 members requested a transfer from the (DB) BSPS to private arrangements.
The advice that these 2,600 people received is under fire for being unsuitable, with several firms subsequently being barred from undertaking pension transfer business. In fact, the regulator found only 48.1% of the advice that it investigated could be considered suitable.
That’s where the FCA comes in. The Financial Conduct Authority is a financial regulatory body operating independently of the UK Government. It’s financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. Specifically, it regulates financial firms (both retail and wholesale) which provide services to consumers and thereby maintains the integrity of the financial markets in the United Kingdom.
Officially, its role includes: “protecting consumers, keeping the industry stable, and promoting healthy competition between financial service providers.” But what’s changed to help curb the chances of this happening again? In the words of John Glen, the Economic Secretary to HM Treasury; “The new rules on pension transfers provide advisers with a framework to better enable them to give good quality advice, so that consumers can make better informed decisions”
As for your pension, most DB schemes, as well as the defined portion of hybrid pension schemes based in the UK, are eligible for protection, however there are some exceptions. If you’re unsure about your scheme, the Pension Protection Fund provides a full list of qualifiers and conditions at https://www.ppf.co.uk/your-scheme-eligible.
Transferring out of a Defined Benefits Pension Scheme is certainly not for everyone. However, there are scenarios where a transfer can provide more options specific to individual circumstances. The most important thing is to ensure any such enquiry is handled by a highly-qualified financial planner with the relevant qualifications and experience necessary to provide advice in this very complex area of advice.
The Default position of the Financial Conduct Authority is that for most client’s a DB transfer will not be in their best interests.
