DB transfer activity decreased marginally over December 2025, while transfer values stabilised — according to data from XPS.
Its figures show with an annualised rate of just 15 out of 1,000 members looking to transfer DB benefits to alternative arrangements over the last month of the year. While the summer months saw an uptick in transfer activity, XPS says activity levels have returned to those seen at the beginning of 2025.
XPS collates data on a number of key indicators in across the DB transfer market. It also found that the typical value of a DB transfer remained level over the last three months of 2025, due more stable government bond yields. At the end of the year this data showed the typical transfer value stood at £141,000.
XPS says that while its transfer value index was more volatile in the first half of 2025, greater stability was seen towards the end of 2025 due to underlying market conditions.
Meanwhile XPS’s latest scam flag index, which tracks the percentage of transfers identified as having a scam warning flag, reported that 94 per cent of cases reviewed by the XPS Scam Protection Service in December 2025 raised at least one scam warning flag, demonstrating a marginal increase compared to the previous quarter-end in September 2025.
XPS Group partner Robert Wallace says: “While transfer activity was subdued at the end of 2025, transfer values have shown signs of stabilising.
“Activity levels have remained broadly consistent since mid-2023 at around 15 to 20 transfers per 1,000 members each year, with modest seasonal increases typically seen over the summer months. Simultaneously, the continued rise in scam warning flags underlines the importance of ongoing vigilance and robust fraud prevention measures.”