Boniface’s LinkedIn profile now shows his title as “poker player and grumpy old man”.
However, he told International Adviser that he “may well be involved in the setting up of new businesses within the industry” and is “open to discussions”, once he has taken a bit of a break.
Confiance, which is owned by four of its directors, had been trustees and administrators for the Agility Pensions plans.
“It suited us to carry on in that role, and also to run [the Agility] business through our own Confiance Pension Services division,” said Richard Garrod, one of the directors.
Although Confiance will not be able to develop Agility’s QROPS business in Guernsey, which is no longer a recognised QROPS jurisdiction, Garrod said it is well equipped to handle its existing QNUPS accounts.
Co-founder of Brooklands
Boniface became a well-known figure in the industry after he co-founded Brooklands International in 2009 with Paul Evans, three years after the major overhaul of UK pensions known as “A-Day”.
Brooklands quickly became an important provider of self-invested personal pensions, qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) and qualifying non-UK pension schemes (QNUPS).
Then, after HM Revenue & Customs stunned the QROPS industry in April, 2012, when it delisted all but three of Guernsey’s 313 then-existing QROP schemes in an unexpected crackdown, Boniface and Evans, in Boniface’s words, “amicably split” the Brooklands business, so that each could pursue his own interests.
Boniface, who until that point had been based in the UK, then moved to Malta, which was to become an important QROPS jurisdiction in the wake of the HMRC delisting of Guernsey.
Differing visions
In September 2012, Evans told International Adviser that Boniface's departure had been precipitated by HMRC’s change in the regulations covering QROPS, which had left Brooklands’ global strategy “out of line with the international strategy that Keith wished to pursue”.
“The products being operated from Guernsey and Isle of Man, which were affected by the change of regulations did not fit within the core products of Brooklands Pensions – SIPPs and QROPS”, Evans said.
“We therefore decided that Keith would take these on and we could then concentrate on our core products going forward."
