The average defined benefit (DB) transfer values decreased to £230,000 at the end of November, according to actuarial firm XPS Pensions Group.
This figure is £5,000 below the value registered in October, of £235,000, when the XPS Pensions Group transfer value index saw the biggest monthly change for more than a year.
The difference between maximum and minimum readings of the index over November was £5,400 (or around 2.3 per cent).
The index tracks the transfer value that would be provided by an example DB scheme to a member aged 64 who is currently entitled to a pension of £10,000 each year starting at age 65, increasing each year in line with inflation.
According to Sankar Mahalingham, head of DB growth at XPS Pensions Group, this decrease in transfer values was due to a rise in gilt yields by around a quarter of a per cent.
He said: “This was partially offset by a small increase in inflation over the month. Volatility during October was a little lower than recent months despite heightened uncertainty around the process for Britain leaving the European Union.”
On November 25, the leaders of the 27 European Union member states endorsed the Brexit withdrawal agreement and approved the political declaration on future relations between the UK and the EU.
But the deal has proven controversial and several members of the Conservative Party have called for Theresa May to stand down as prime minister, with some claiming it gives the EU too much power over the UK and others saying the opposite.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
