Press Release
2025 STAR accreditations announced
28 April 2025
STAR, the industry award scheme designed to combat delays in electronic transfer times, has published the 2025 accreditations. The initiative awarded 55 accreditations to leading pensions and financial service organisations across the four categories: ISA/GIA, Personal Pensions SIPP & SSAS, Occupational Pensions and Asset Managers.
Founded by two independent, not-for-profit organisations, Criterion and TeX, STAR was established to recognise and reward firms committed to improving transfer times. As the driving force behind the largest industry-wide collaboration, STAR is at the forefront of efforts to enhance transfer efficiency across pensions, investments, and savings. Through its gold, silver, and bronze accreditations, STAR evaluates firms based on the Management Information (MI) they provide, promoting transparency, accountability, and a better experience for consumers.
The importance of STAR’s mission is heightened by the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty rules, which require firms to prevent foreseeable harm and support customers in achieving their financial goals. The FCA has made it clear that firms failing to engage with STAR will face increased regulatory scrutiny, underscoring the initiative’s critical role in industry-wide progress.
By fostering collaboration across the industry, STAR is galvanising market participants to drive meaningful, lasting improvements. The 2025 accreditations celebrate those firms that are shaping a more efficient and customer-friendly transfer landscape.
“Firmly positioned at the heart of industry collaboration, STAR is driving real change in transfer efficiency. These accreditations recognise firms that are committed to greater transparency and accountability - key principles under Consumer Duty. STAR has been running for over five years, and in that time, we’ve made significant strides in setting industry-wide standards. I am delighted to congratulate XPS Group for achieving two accreditations for SIPP & SSAS and occupational pensions. Firms putting themselves forward for accreditation should be applauded for holding themselves up to scrutiny and being held accountable for their performance. Participating in the STAR transfers initiative does not guarantee that a firm will be successful, as a STAR accreditation is based on merit. We urge all firms who are eligible to participate and make it clear to consumers that they are taking their transfer performance seriously.”
“We are delighted to receive these accreditation awards from STAR in recognition of the quality of our transfer process-es and our turnaround times for administering pension transfer cases. This has been achieved thanks to the tremendous dedication of our people, supported by our significant investment in technology.
“Financial advisers need to know that the pension providers they work with are committed to making transfers into and out of their pensions, as smooth as possible for clients. Achieving the STAR silver accreditation for our SIPP and SSAS transfer process is really important to us and excellent recognition for the service we provide. This is especially so given the relative complexity that SIPP & SSAS can hold. Thank you to everyone involved, including STAR for the great work you do in improving standards across our industry.”
Full details of the accreditations are available on our website.
Notes
STAR accreditation is based on several factors. One area of good performance can’t outweigh the poor performance in another. It is a balanced approach, and awards are thoroughly checked before they are given to an organisation. STAR accreditations are measured on a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) not only on the overall transfer time, as there are also a lot of mitigating factors to consider when reviewing the overall performance of an organisation.
STAR concluded the best way to fairly judge an organisation was to set up a points-based metric system with an organisation being scored on several key areas such as:
- The time taken to complete the key stages of the electronic transfer journey.
- How they communicate with their customers on that journey.
Currently, the awards are based on Core MI for electronic transfers, however, the STAR Steering Group has committed to all participating organisations reporting on Full MI including manual transfers in 2026, with the first Full MI accreditations to be awarded in 2027. This will mark a significant milestone for the initiative, raising the bar for transparency, accountability, and data-driven progress across the industry.
For further information please contact:
Matthew Dransfield
Commercial and Marketing Director
Criterion
0773 765 0010
media@criterion.org.uk
About STAR
STAR was created as a collaboration between Criterion and TeX, combining the industry-reach, unique strengths, experience and shared ambition of the two not-for-profit organisations.
Criterion was formed for the industry in July 2017, operating as a not-for-profit independent industry body providing Standards and Governance services. It was originally part of Origo Services Ltd and has been publishing process and integration standards for 30 years. Criterion is uniquely positioned to facilitate and drive cross-industry engagement, helping organisations achieve higher levels of collaboration, reduce costs and achieve better outcomes for their consumers.
TeX is a not-for-profit organisation which works with the industry to ensure that the maximum benefit is provided to all members. This new company is financially independent from TISA but benefits from being linked to the TISA brand through name, the expertise provided by the two corporate entity directorships and the administrative support provided by TISA.
About XPS Group
XPS Group is a leading UK consulting and administration business specialising in the pensions and insurance sectors. A FTSE 250 company, XPS combines expertise and insight with advanced technology and analytics to address the needs of over 1,400 pension schemes and their sponsoring employers on an ongoing and project basis. We undertake pensions administration for over one million members and provide advisory services to schemes and corporate sponsors in respect of schemes of all sizes, including 83 with assets over £1bn. We also provide wider ranging support to insurance companies in the life and bulk annuities sector.
XPS Self Invested Pensions is an award-winning SIPP and SSAS pension provider, trustee, and administrator. The SIPP/SSAS business has over 110 staff and looks after over 9,000 clients with assets worth over £4.2bn (June 2024).