Close opens QROPS plan to life assurers
From Products May 6 2010 BY: Simon Danaher
, Online News Editor
, International Adviser
Close Brothers Asset Management is opening its Guernsey Personal Retirement Plan to products from the life assurance industry.
Advisers will now be able to access life bond products from Royal London 360, Friends Provident International, Skandia International and Generali International through the Close scheme.
Rex Cowley, head of marketing at Close said life bonds give investors greater flexibility as life cover could be added to ‘top-up’ capital in the plan on the death of the member, for the benefit of dependents.
Furthermore, Cowley said the life products give advisors access to a much wider universe of investment funds and discretionary managers than currently available.
Meanwhile, Mike Lightfoot, director of pensions at Close Brothers Asset Management, said while the inclusion of life products brings a complex range of issues in terms of how the two interact from a legal and operational perspective, Close had addressed these issues.
Close the product enhancement is the first in a range of steps it plans to take to further enhance its product to better meet the needs of UK expatriates and foreign nationals that have accumulated UK pension assets and no longer reside in the UK.