This is a generic term used to describe a switch from one investment to another. This could be an investment fund switch, an investment policy switch or a pension switch.
When it comes to pensions however, advisers can get confused between what constitutes a pension switch and what is a pension transfer.
To clarify therefore, a pension switch is where a retail client is transferring benefits from a personal pension or stakeholder pension scheme (where there has been no previous transfer from a defined benefits scheme) to another personal pension or stakeholder pension scheme.
There is no specific qualification requirement for advisers advising on pension switches.
FCA guidance can be accessed here
http://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-products/investments/pension-switching
Suitability reports must contain sufficient detail to justify any switch, including alternatives, disadvantages, risks, costs and charges.
(Now read ‘T’).



Trust Registration Service – update
John Begg Compliance 2017, 2020, 2021, EU, ML, Pension, PI, Register, transfer, Update
New rules, transposing the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) into UK law took effect on 10 January 2020. One impact of the rules was to broaden the scope of the Trust Registration Service (TRS) requirements. you can read more about 5MLD and TRS here. In brief, the previous rules required that all express trusts that […]