ABI: Good performance continues with

ABI: Good performance continues with ‘options’ initiatives

ABI: Good performance continues with ‘options’ initiatives

The ABI has today published the latest performance data for the Options pension transfer initiative. Options – built to speed up the exchange of information and funds between pension and annuity providers – delivered an average transfer time of 11 calendar days in Q2 2009.

This compares to eight calendar days in Q1 2009 and a 31 calendar day industry average in 2008. Options, developed and operated by leading e-commerce provider Origo, has also recently been extended to cover pension-to-pension transfers, in addition to the existing Open Market Option (OMO) and Immediate Vesting Personal Pensions (IVPP) service. Five providers are currently using Options for pension-to-pension transfers, with more expected to join in due course. 14 companies are using Options for OMO and IVPP transfers.

Maggie Craig, the ABI’s Director of Life and Savings, said:

“Options is a key part of the ABI’s Consumer Strategy, designed to improve customer experiences of the insurance industry. Although there has been a slight increase in the average transfer time from Q1 2009, this should not detract from the efforts of pension companies to improve performance on OMO transfers. It is still early days for Options and as more providers go online, it was always expected that average transfer times would fluctuate. The good news is that in just one year, average transfer times have fallen by nearly three weeks.

“Options has shown that by working together, companies can improve the customer experience of securing a retirement income from their pension savings. We urge those companies who have not yet signed up to the initiative, or who have not yet gone live, to do so as soon as possible, so that the benefits of this important initiative are felt by all pension customer

1.Enquiries to:
Jonathan French 020 7216 7392 (Mobile: 07958 330 480)
Malcolm Tarling 020 7216 7410 (Mobile: 07776 147 667)
Erfan Hussain 020 7216 7411 (Mobile: 07712 841 184)
Kelly Ostler-Coyle 020 7216 7415 (Mobile: 07968 364 302)

2.The Q2 2009 performance report shows that 9,448 transfers were processed between 1 April and 30 June 2009, with an average weighted transfer time of 11.1 calendar days.

3.The full Options Performance Report for Q2 2009 is available on the ABI web site, www.abi.org.uk. The 14 providers using ‘Options’ for OMO and IVPP transfers are AEGON Scottish Equitable, Aviva, AXA, Canada Life, Friends Provident, Just Retirement, Legal & General, LV=, MGM Advantage, Partnership, Pearl Group, Prudential, Skandia and Standard Life. Further details are available at www.origoservices.com/optionsproviders.

4.The five companies who are now live with the Options pension-to-pension transfer service are AEGON, Aviva, Legal & General, Prudential and Standard Life.

5.The ABI is the voice of the insurance and investment industry. Its members constitute over 90 per cent of the insurance market in the UK and 20 per cent across the EU. They control assets equivalent to a quarter of the UK’s capital. They are the risk managers of the UK’s economy and society. Through the ABI their voice is heard in Government and in public debate on insurance, savings and investment matters.

6.An ISDN line is available for broadcasts.

7.More news and information from the ABI is available on our web site, www.abi.org.uk.