The short version: CETVs are much lower than they were
Anyone who requested a defined benefit transfer value during the ultra-low interest rate years and requests another one now is likely to be in for a shock. When gilt yields surged from 2022 onwards, cash equivalent transfer values (CETVs) fell sharply across most UK schemes — and while values move around, they have not returned to the levels of the low-rate era. If you are weighing a transfer in 2026, the starting point is a fresh quotation from your scheme, not a figure from an old statement.
Why gilt yields drive transfer values
Your CETV is not a savings balance. It is the scheme actuary's estimate of how much money the scheme needs to set aside today to pay your promised pension for the rest of your life. That calculation discounts your future income back to a present-day value, and the discount rate is anchored to the yields on UK government bonds (gilts), which schemes hold to match their promises.
- When gilt yields are low, the scheme assumes low future returns, so it needs a large sum today to fund your pension — CETVs are high.
- When gilt yields rise, the same promised income can be funded from a smaller sum growing at a higher assumed rate — CETVs fall.
- Inflation assumptions, your age, your scheme's specific benefits and its funding position all feed in too, which is why two members with similar pensions can receive quite different values.
We explain the underlying relationship in more detail in our guide to how gilt yields affect your pension.
What happened between the low-rate years and now
| Period | Gilt yield environment | Effect on CETVs |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-2010s to 2021 | Historically low yields | Transfer values at or near record highs; many members quoted large multiples of their annual pension |
| 2022–2023 | Yields rose sharply as rates climbed | CETVs fell steeply — often the largest falls members had ever seen between quotations |
| 2024–2026 | Yields elevated versus the 2010s | CETVs remain well below their peaks; values fluctuate with markets |
We deliberately do not quote a "typical multiple" of pension given up, because it varies widely by scheme, age and benefit structure — and any figure would be out of date quickly. The only number that matters is the one on your own current quotation. Ask your scheme administrator for it; the calculation and the three-month guarantee window are covered in our CETV explained guide.
Does a lower CETV change the transfer decision?
Mechanically, yes — and mostly in the direction of staying put. A lower cash offer for the same guaranteed income means the scheme pension has become relatively better value to keep. The income you would need to generate from a smaller transferred pot is the same, so the pot has to work harder, with more risk of falling short.
But the decision was never purely about the size of the number. The same fundamentals apply as they always did:
- A DB pension is a guaranteed, usually inflation-linked income for life. Giving that up transfers all investment and longevity risk to you.
- The FCA's starting position is that most people are better off keeping their defined benefit pension.
- If your transfer value is over £30,000, taking regulated financial advice is a legal requirement before any transfer can proceed — your scheme will not release the funds without confirmation from an FCA-regulated adviser with pension transfer permissions.
Our full guide to final salary pension transfers walks through when a transfer can still make sense — ill health, no dependants, substantial other secure income — and our page on whether transferring a final salary pension is worth it weighs the trade-offs.
"Should I wait for CETVs to recover?"
Nobody can promise they will. Transfer values would generally rise again if gilt yields fell materially, but timing interest-rate cycles is speculation, not planning. Meanwhile, waiting has real costs and benefits of its own: your CETV recalculates with your age and revaluation each year, scheme funding changes, and your personal circumstances move on. If a transfer only makes sense at a peak-era valuation, that is usually a sign it does not make sense at all.
There is also a flip side worth knowing: the same rise in yields that cut CETVs pushed annuity rates to multi-year highs. Guaranteed income has become cheaper to buy at retirement — which strengthens, not weakens, the case for valuing the guarantee you already hold.
Comparing an old quotation with today's
If you hold a CETV statement from the peak years, resist the urge to anchor on it. The old figure told you what the scheme's promise cost to fund under conditions that no longer exist; it was never a price you personally "lost". When you compare quotations across years, make sure you are comparing like with like: your accrued pension will have revalued upwards in the meantime, you are older (which usually raises the value, all else equal), and the scheme may have changed its calculation basis. It is entirely possible for the cash figure to be lower even though the pension it represents has grown — that is the discount-rate effect doing the work.
A useful discipline is to translate any CETV into the income question: roughly what secure income could this sum buy today, and how does that compare with the pension I would be giving up? With annuity rates at multi-year highs in 2026, that comparison has become easier to make and often less flattering to transferring than people expect. An adviser will run this properly with your scheme's actual increase rules rather than rough approximations.
What's changed inside schemes since yields rose
Higher yields did not just cut CETVs — they transformed scheme funding. Many DB schemes moved from deficit to surplus, and a wave of them have been securing benefits with insurers through buy-ins and buyouts. For members, that generally strengthens the security of the pension you hold. If your scheme is heading toward an insurer buyout, your benefits would be backed by a regulated insurer rather than your old employer — another factor that tends to favour staying put, and one worth asking your trustees about before making any transfer decision.
Practical next steps
- Request a current CETV from your scheme administrator — one is normally free every 12 months.
- Note the guarantee expiry date (three months from calculation).
- Gather your scheme booklet, benefit statements and details of spouse's pensions and increases.
- Speak to an FCA-regulated adviser with pension transfer permissions — mandatory over £30,000, and sensible below it. An adviser can model your specific scheme against what a transferred pot would realistically need to deliver.
PensionHelper does not give advice; we match people with regulated advisers who hold the right transfer permissions for exactly this decision.