Intelligent Pensions will no longer carry out advice on transfers of defined benefit pension schemes following a discussion with the regulator.
The company, which offered its defined benefit transfer service to external IFAs as well as its own internal advisers, has now agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority to stop offering advice on the exchange of final salary schemes.
A note on the FCA register stated the firm was to “immediately cease to provide advice in relation to the transfer, or conversion, of safeguarded benefits under a pension scheme to flexible benefits”.
A spokeswoman from Intelligent Pensions said the firm had voluntarily agreed with the FCA to temporarily suspend offering advice and arranging defined benefit transfers.
“We are working with legal and compliance experts and remain confident that our recommendations and advice process deliver good outcomes for our clients and that we will be able to demonstrate this to the FCA quickly.”
The FCA declined to comment on the note on its register.
At the start of the year, the FCA warned advisers about the processes advice firms were using when recommending defined benefit pension transfers.
In April, the regulator revealed it would publish a consultation paper on DB transfers in "due course".
The head of Aegon's UK arm, Adrian Grace, urged the regulator to hurry up with its consultation before the “tidal wave” of pension transfers hits the market.
There has been a surge in DB transfers after the government abandoned compulsory annuitisation back in 2015.
The amount people get when exchanging their DB schemes has also reached record levels, with people being offered cash lump sums up to 40 times the amount they would have got by sticking with their scheme.
Figures from The Pensions Regulator found that up to 80,000 defined-benefit pension transfers were made in the year ending 31 March.
katherine.denham@ft.com
