Interest in pension transfers is at levels not seen since the 1980s.
More than £25bn was transferred out of pension schemes in 2016, the largest volume in a single year since Origo's Options Transfers service was launched in 2008.
Origo estimates the vast majority - around 90 per cent - of pension transfers in the contract market go through its service.
In total, Origo revealed it has facilitated the transfer of £100bn worth of pension transfers since 2008 showing just how busy a year 2016 was.
It is right that pension transfers are back in the spotlight post pension freedoms.
For those who want to make the most of the pension freedoms granted by former chancellor George Osborne, it is right to consider ditching a defined benefit scheme.
On top of this, transfer values offered by defined benefit schemes have spiked recently.
I hope a scandal can be avoided but clearly ambulance chasers think it is already nigh.Emma Ann HughesBut this week served as a reminder of the risks associated with pension transfers.
This week the Financial Conduct Authority told a financial advice firm to cease all regulated activity after it broke a voluntary agreement regarding pension transfers that it struck with the regulator.
Gloucestershire-based Bank House Investment Management was told by the FCA to cease any activity relating to pension switches or transfers into self-invested personal pensions yet it carried out 78 more transactions anyway.
Following a visit in July 2015 the FCA had "serious concerns" about the suitability of the firm's pension advice, which led to the regulator and Bank House reaching a voluntary agreement.
But in August 2016 the FCA became aware Bank House had broken the agreement.
The watchdog discovered it had advised 72 customers on 78 pension transfers, with a total value of £2.65m.
Reading the FCA’s notice, I hope this is not the start of things to come.
I remember all too clearly the pension mis-selling scandal of the 1980s when more than a million people were thought to have been incorrectly advised to take out personal plans when they would have been better off in a company scheme.
Compensation was paid to hundreds of thousands of people, the regulators of the day shook their heads and rules were introduced that were supposed to prevent a scandal of this magnitude from ever happening again.
Yet, here we are in 2017 and I must say this notice, along with recent remarks by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and Financial Ombudsman Service have left me concerned.
I am concerned a pension transfer scandal of even greater magnitude than the 1980s pension mis-selling debacle could be looming on the horizon – I hope I am wrong and it can be avoided.
How many people are being wrongly advised to transfer out of a gold-plated final salary scheme into a self-invested personal pension?
With the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and Financial Ombudsman Service both raising their eyebrows about some Sipp recommendations, I can report the ambulance chasers are already circling.
Claims management firms are swift to tap into the next source of swift flowing cash into their pockets.
Type pension transfer scandal into Google and the first four results you get are all advertisements promising “no win no fee” to make a claim against the adviser who recommended you ditch your old occupational scheme.
I hope a scandal can be avoided but clearly ambulance chasers think it is already nigh.
Given the volume of pension transfers currently taking place it is vital the Financial Conduct Authority spots and tackles more firms like Bank House.
You pay hefty regulatory fees and I am sure you and your clients expect the City watchdog to use that money to weed out firms failing to match your standards and make sure pension transfers are suitable.
But I would stress this is a situation that requires monitoring, spotting and swift action against rogue firms – not necessarily the creation of yet more rules.
Surely if we have learnt anything in life it is that you can make laws, but what is needed is the powers that be to take swift and decisive action against those who choose to ignore rules.
That is not to say the pension transfer rules don’t require a rethink.
As pointed out by the likes of AJ Bell’s Mike Morrison, the pension transfer rules need updating to recognise defined benefit schemes are no longer the gold standard they once were.
But I agree with the current rules that state pension transfers of more than £30,000 should be accompanied by advice to save some people from themselves.
To change that requirement would just open savers up to more scams.
With pension transfer values reaching record levels, it is vital that advisers do consider whether switching from one pot to another is suitable.
What is needed though is the regulator to make sure all those who claim to be offering advice are making recommendations that are suitable.
The regulator needs to spot those pushing dodgy investments, ditching the industry when they receive claims for compensation and shifting the bill on to individuals who followed the rules and are forced to pick up the tab for those who don’t.
emma.hughes@ft.com
