Pension transfer activity picked up slightly in the past two months despite the XPS Group’s Transfer Value Index recording its lowest ever month-end figure for the second month in a row in April.

Pension transfer activity - the number of pensions being transferred as measured by XPS internal data - has been falling steadily since 2017.

XPS said the pick up in transfers recently suggested that pension scheme members remained engaged in all retirement options, including considering pension transfers.

The sister XPS Transfer Value Index saw its its lowest ever month-end figure for the second month in a row in mid-April with a new Index low of £137,000, the first time the Index has dropped below £140,000 since launch in 2019. 

At the end of 2021, the average transfer value was worth £270,000. 

The Transfer Value Index shows the estimated cash transfer value of a 64-year-old member with a pension of £10,000 a year with typical inflationary increases.

Source: XPS Group

Source: XPS Group

Table 1 – Transfer Watch over the past 12 months

Source: XPS Group – All data is at the end of each month.

XPS said that the drop in the Transfer Value Index was driven by the continued volatility of gilt yields and falling long-term inflationary expectations.

XPS Group’s Transfer Activity Index saw a marginal increase in April to an annualised rate of 23 members in every 1,000 transferring their benefits to alternative arrangements. This increase was despite a steady fall in transfer values over the past six months.

Helen Cavanagh, XPS Group senior consultant, said: "Despite last month’s dip in transfer values – reflective of continued market volatility – the slight rise we saw in transfer activity suggests that members remain engaged and proactive in managing their retirement options. It is also positive to see that scam warning flags fell to the lowest observed level in nearly three years, suggesting progress in protecting members from pension scams."

Some 83% of cases reviewed by the XPS Scam Protection Service raised at least one scam warning flag during April 2025, according to XPS Group’s Scam Flag Index. This was the lowest figure seen since May 2022, when the impact of the 2021 Transfer Value Regulations began to take full effect, the company said.