The SimplyBiz Group has appointed Broadgate Financial Management to its pension transfer referral panel, which carries out defined benefit (DB) transfers for advisers.
Broadgate has joined Tuto, Grove Pension Solutions, Pensionhelp and Creative Wealth Management.
The service allows advisers who are either unable to, or choose not to, operate in the defined benefit transfer market to refer their clients to the third party service.
Gary Kershaw, compliance director at SimplyBiz, said: “It is great to welcome Broadgate to the bureau, and I am sure it will prove to be a very worthwhile addition to the panel.
“Like most of our defined benefit partners, Broadgate itself is an advice firm and therefore understands perfectly the relationship of trust between client and adviser and the absolute importance of delivering the right advice for that individual, based on their specific circumstances.”
Simplybiz added it would continue developing the service with new future additions to the panel.
It was in July, last year, that SimplyBiz launched a new DB pension transfer bureau in partnership with Creative Wealth Management, after its usual partner Selectapension’s service was temporarily suspended.
A few weeks earlier, Selectapension's SBS service was suspended. A note on the company’s website stated the move was due to "unprecedented demand".
Following the introduction of pension freedoms in 2015, defined benefit pension transfers have been soaring, as savers seek to take advantage of sky-high transfer values and to move their nest eggs into defined contribution schemes in order to access their cash.
The rush to cash out pension savings is expected to continue, with Hymans Robertson estimating about one million individuals will transfer out of their defined benefit pension schemes in the next 25 years.
But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is on high alert about the transfers after finding in October a mere 47 per cent of transfer advice reviewed was deemed suitable.
The FCA is currently reviewing DB transfer advice in all firms holding transfer permissions amid concerns over advisers using a “commoditised approach” to pension transfers, which it deems leads to bad outcomes more often than not.
Caroline Singleton, occupational pension specialist and compliance manager at Broadgate Financial Management, said: “The defined benefit market is one in which we have a great deal of experience and expertise and I know our services could be really beneficial to advisers.”
carmen.reichman@ft.com
