The Origo Transfer Service achieved one million transfers in a year in 2021, completing transfers for around 150 brands.
The Fintech, which handles the vast majority of the industry’s defined contribution (DC) pension transfers as well as an increasing number of ISAs and GIAs through the Service, saw over £46 billion transferred, up from £33 billion in the previous calendar year.
The average transfer time for all Origo Transfer Service users was 13.5 days, with half of all transfers completed within 7 days and the average time being two weeks.
According to the most recent Origo Transfer Index (OTI) – a measure of the transfer times of a group of 28 leading pensions and pension administration companies when ceding DC pensions to another provider – overall average transfer times completed within 14 calendar days in Q4 2021. From Q3 to Q4 2021, transfer times increased marginally, from 13.2 to 13.4 days for overall transfers and from 10.9 to 11.3 days for simpler cases.
13 companies improved their Q3 transfer times on overall performance from quarter to quarter. Elevate (a Standard Life subsidiary), Fidelity, Forester Life, Hargreaves Lansdown, Hornbuckle (a subsidiary of the Embark Group), Legal & General, LV=, MetLife, NFU Mutual, Novia, Parmenion, and Wealthtime are among them.
NFU Mutual continues to be the best performer in the Index, averaging 5.2 days overall for transfers and 4.7 days for simpler transfers this quarter.
Origo CEO Anthony Rafferty says: “Passing one million transfers through the Origo Transfer Service is a marvellous milestone to achieve and is a reflection of the performance of the service, as well as the strength of the financial services and financial advice markets. Average transfer times through the service remain consistently within the two calendar week time frame. All despite the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We now have a significant number of companies openly publishing their data through the Origo Transfer Index, including most of the leading providers in the market. In 2021 we saw three new participants in the index, which is voluntary, which were Advance by Embark, Reassure and Vanguard. Index participants account for over 80% of transfers through the Origo Transfer Service.
“The more participants that engage with the Index the better it is for the industry and for customers, as it provides an overall industry benchmark against which providers, platforms and administrators can measure their performance and where they may be able to improve the standard of service for consumers.”