In brief
Asset transfers model the movement of funds between wrappers — most commonly Bed & ISA (sell GIA, buy in ISA) and Bed & Pension (sell GIA, contribute to SIPP) — and show the projected long-term effect in your cashflow and asset charts.
Before you start
You need at least one GIA asset and one target wrapper (ISA or SIPP) in your asset register before adding a transfer event. For Bed & Pension, check whether the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA — currently £10,000) applies to you; if you have already accessed pension income flexibly, this limit replaces the standard £60,000 annual allowance.
Steps
- Open your scenario and navigate to Life Events.
- Select Add event and choose Asset Transfer.
- Set the Source — the account funds move from (typically GIA).
- Set the Target — the account funds move to (ISA or SIPP).
- Enter the Amount to transfer. For Bed & ISA, this is limited by the ISA annual allowance (£20,000 per person, 2025/26). For Bed & Pension, this is limited by the pension annual allowance (£60,000, or 100% of earnings if lower).
- Set the Date — the year in which the transfer occurs.
- Set Recurring if you want the transfer to repeat annually; leave it off for a one-off transfer.
- Select Save.
CGT on Bed & ISA — when you sell holdings in a GIA, you trigger a disposal. The engine calculates the gain (sale proceeds minus cost basis), applies the CGT annual allowance (£3,000 for 2025/26), and taxes any remaining gain at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher/additional rate) based on that year's income. The net proceeds then move into the ISA. Future growth inside the ISA is free of CGT.
Spreading transfers across years — if you have a large GIA holding, add multiple annual transfer events at a lower amount per year. This uses your CGT annual allowance each year rather than triggering a single large CGT bill.
Bed & Pension tax relief — contributions attract income tax relief at your marginal rate. Basic rate relief is added automatically by the pension provider. Higher rate relief must be claimed separately via self-assessment. Funds inside the pension are locked until pension access age (currently 55, rising to 57 from April 2028).
What to check afterwards
After saving, the transfer event appears in the Life Events list on your scenario timeline. Run the simulation and check the cashflow table for the year of transfer — it shows the CGT cost and the amount actually moved into the target wrapper. If a transfer exceeds an annual allowance, only the allowable portion is moved; the cashflow table reflects what the engine applied. Compare two scenarios — one with and one without the transfers — to see the projected long-term effect.