XPS Pension Group’s Transfer Value Index fell by 4% in February to £168,000, the lowest month-end value since the Index was first published in June 2016.

The decrease was mainly due to a steady rise in gilt yields during February, XPS said.

XPS Pensions Group’s Transfer Value Index shows the estimated Cash Transfer Value of a 64-year-old member with a pension of £10,000 a year with typical inflation increases.

The sister Transfer Activity Index increased only slightly during February, showing an annualised rate of 42 members per 100,000 transferring out of their current scheme to an alternative arrangement.

XPS says that activity is in line with the picture over the past year suggesting a stabilisation in transfer rates.

Scam fears continue to be a concern with 92% of cases reviewed by the XPS Scam Protection Service in February raising at least one scam warning flag. This was slight fall from the previous three months, although the Index has remained above 90% since June 2022.

XPS Pensions Group’s Scam Flag Index tracks the percentage of monthly transfers reviewed by the businesses’ scam protection service that are identified as having warning ‘flags’ which indicate that the member is at risk of being scammed.