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Pension transfers

Journalist: Sonia Rach

ended 24. April 2026

Hi advisers,

Keen to know your thoughts on the the average time it is taking you personally to complete a pension transfer?

With those that are longer, who are some of the providers that you think could do with some improvement?

For those that are doing it quickly, who are some of the providers you think are getting it right?

Any other comments in this space?

Thanks!


 

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Nouran Moustafa
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
For straightforward defined contribution transfers, I would say advisers still expect the process to take weeks rather than days, and once any manual chasing, legacy administration or additional due diligence enters the picture, timelines can drift far too easily. The frustration is not just speed, it is inconsistency. In my view, the providers getting it right are the ones with strong digital processing, clear communication and fewer hand-offs between teams. The ones causing pain tend to be those still relying on manual workflows and poor updates. Publicly raised cases around Royal London and WTW Lifesight show exactly why this remains such a live issue. The industry does not need more excuses here, it needs predictable service standards. When transfers drag, clients lose confidence, advisers lose time and good outcomes can be delayed for no good reason.
Providers that combine speed with clean communication are setting the benchmark, and the rest need to catch up fast.
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Alex Norwood
Director at N2 Asset Management
From our experience, timelines can vary quite significantly depending on the provider and the type of scheme involved.

Where we tend to see delays is with older or legacy schemes. Providers such as Willis Towers Watson, Phoenix Life and some of the larger legacy books across the industry can be notably slower when responding to queries and processing transfers (excluding DB transfers). In some cases, we are seeing timescales extend to several months.
In our view, this is often less about process complexity and more reflective of resourcing constraints and the volume of requests being handled, particularly within older administration systems.

By contrast, platforms such as Transact and AJ Bell tend to deliver more efficient outcomes, supported by modern systems, better digital processes, and clearer communication—resulting in more predictable and often shorter transfer times.

Overall, while there has been improvement in parts of the market, consistency remains an issue.