Advisers offered free pension transfer review

The Consulting Consortium (TCC) has announced it will offer a free pension transfer review to advisers.

Following an FSA review of pension transfers, which has resulted in at least three firms facing enforcement action, TCC says some firms will need to review their practices to ensure they do not fall foul of the regulator.

The FSA found suitable advice was given in most cases, but substantial proportion of firms had made unsuitable recommendations to more than a third of their customers, and the FSA will be paying close attention to pension transfer business in future supervisory visits.

TCC's review aims to help firms understand how the FSA would rate their business so they can identify any changes that are needed in their advice processes.

Joanne Smith, managing director of TCC, says: "This free offering provided by TCC provides firms with the perfect opportunity to assess their current position before the FSA considers closely assessing firm's compliance in this area.

"There have certainly been some shortcomings on pension transfers and we are urging firms to implement plans to ensure measures are put in place to combat these."

TCC is offering a free review of firms' pension transfer advice until the end of January 2009.

Contact: John Bakie, Tel: 020 7484 9805, e-mail: John.Bakie@incisivemedia.com