Transition management is in the spotlight. Less than two years after a series of accusations and subsequent investigations into transition management fees, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has also turned its attention to this service offered by custody banks.

In its simplest form, transition management is a process whereby banks or asset managers help clients, such as pension schemes, move assets within portfolios or to transition portfolios of securities from one manager to another. Transitions often occur when companies - and therefore their pension schemes - merge, or when a pension scheme closes a fund or changes asset managers.