Overseas pensions offered from Gibraltar are most at risk of losing their ‘recognised’ status when the UK brings in a new rule requiring such products to be regulated in the country where they are established.
Malta’s government has amended its income tax rules to make clear that savers can still take a 30% pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) when they transfer their pension pot into a Qrops registered on the island, after “significant lobbying” efforts by specialist provider Momentum Pensions.
Providers of self-invested personal pension schemes (Sipps) need to simplify their charging structures to make it easier for financial advisers to compare products, experts in the industry have said.
Momentum Pensions is extending its product range to include lower-cost solutions for international clients to meet a rise in demand from investors with minimum funds of £20,000.
Some of the biggest firms in the finance industry announced significant people moves this week; with Prudential naming a chief executive, HSBC GAM making two chief executive appointments in Asia, and JP Morgan promoting a new head of retail in China.
Board and senior appointments were the name of the game this week with Momentum Pensions and Brown Advisory adding to their boards, while Old Mutual International and Sun Life were among those announcing changes at senior levels.
Guernsey’s Government has passed legislation allowing flexi-drawdown for its international pension plans, including delisted QROPS funds.
The only three certainties in life are all intrinsically linked – death, taxes and pension changes, says Mark Gaywood, group chairman of Momentum Pensions in a video interview.
The UK Government is currently looking to close a loophole that allows expats to transfer their unfunded public sector pensions into qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS).
QROPS domiciled in Malta will benefit from the full flexibility which is to be afforded to UK pensions, after a change to local pension legislation.
Momentum Pensions Group has hired Paul Forman as head of sales for the UK.
Momentum Pensions has acquired a strategic stake in Calderwood Pensions, a UK-based SIPP and SSAS administrator and trustee business.
