The ViaNova Working Group and TISA Exchange (TeX) complete first of its kind pension transfer, paving the way for future automated transfers.
- The ViaNova working group and TISA Exchange (TeX) have completed a first of its kind pension transfer with WTW.
- The transfer was the first ever for DC Occupational Pension schemes and the whole process for the ceding scheme took 6 working days – a significant saving compared to the usual 6-8 weeks’ transfer time.
- Early adopters include WTW LifeSight Master Trust and two large DC occupational schemes managed together with Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity.
The ViaNova initiative brings together both pension regulated and FCA regulated schemes. Enhancing the speed of transfers within a secure and reliable framework is part of ViaNova and TeX’s joint aim of improving member experience.
The initiative combined open standard solutions with a common legal framework to streamline DC transfer processing. TeX is responsible for the legal framework, managing and running the complete set of non-commercial contracts between parties that cover standards, service level agreements and matters of liability concerning all aspects of transfers.
The ViaNova group will continue to look at ways in supporting the industry, including the use of DB transfers.
Altus Strategy Director Ben Cocks commented: “The corporate pensions industry has received plenty of criticism for poor pension transfer services over recent years from everyone from the minister down so we should give credit to ViaNova and TeX for driving these improvements.
Their success is founded on collaborating with organisations across the pensions industry and using open standards to ensure everyone can participate – an exemplar for how to solve many industry challenges. The reduction of transfer times from over 6 weeks down to 6 days sets the bar for everyone else. Let’s hope we see many more organisations stepping up to the ViaNova/TeX standard.”
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