Concept, which released the Gibraltar-based Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes in October, its first product launches since HM Revenue & Custom’s delisted all but three of Guernsey’s QROPS schemes in April 2012, said the changes would help to “bring the industry into the 21st century”.
From today, the company has removed the upper limit of £100,000 on its Aurora Europa Lite QROPS, opening it up to much larger quantities of investment.
Sales and marketing manager, Sean Gillease, said: “With annual fees of just £450 now possible for a new QROPS of any value, subject to a single custodian account being held, the fees are much more akin to what would usually be seen with a UK self invested personal pension (SIPP).”
The company will also offer free transfers out of its Gibraltar schemes to any other provider if members move jurisdiction and find that Concept cannot offer a suitable or equivalent scheme.
Additionally, transfers into its Gibraltar QROPS or Guernsey Qualified Non-UK Pension Scheme will now be free and include no annual fee for the first year.
Roger Berry, managing director at Concept Group, said the company hoped that waiving the fees would help the company compete with SIPPS following the upcoming UK pension reforms, which remove the need for an annuity and allow the entirety of a pension to be removed in one lump sum.
“QROPS are still attractive in correct circumstances,” he said. “However, when competing with often lower priced SIPPS, QROPS can be seen as expensive.
“The changes we have made today go a long way to rectifying the price differential and levelling the playing field with SIPPS.”
Last week, QROPS provider Momentum similarly waived set-up and first year fees for clients looking to move their existing QROPS products, following a surge of requests in the run up to April’s UK pension reforms.
Delisting
Concept’s business took a large blow in April 2012 when HMRC delisted 310 of Guernsey’s QROPS schemes, declaring that overseas pensions schemes established in Guernsey under its S157E regime could not be used by non-residents.
Ironically, the S157E regime had been brought in that month to cater to the government body’s growing concerns surrounding overseas pensions on the island. It had been designed as a “one-size-fits-all” pension that could be open to islanders and non-residents alike, with no Guernsey tax due on benefits paid.
A statement from Concept at the time said HMRC’s actions appeared to be “specifically designed to frustrate” the new law.
