UK Pension Transfer Service Insight

NZ Funds’ new UK Pension Transfer Service aims to become market leader

Tuesday, July 9th 2019, 10:01AM

by Ellie Jarvis

Ellie Jarvis

A market in need of a fresh approach

For many years, the United Kingdom pension transfer market has been a murky backwater, with little transparency or regulatory oversight. Transfers to a number of prominent incumbent providers can involve fees of up to 5% of the value of an immigrant’s entire accumulated pension. Digging still deeper, many incumbent providers also include a markup on currency transfer rates (with the difference being kept by the provider), and charge additional fees when clients wish to withdraw their money or transfer to a new scheme. Add to that the fact that many existing schemes are old with high ongoing fees and difficult transfer rules, and you have an industry ripe for a shake up.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘free assessment’

Many incumbent providers lure clients in with offers of a ‘free assessment’. A free assessment offers little or nothing of value but is often mistaken as an offer of free advice, or better still, free transfer, which it is not. Another claim is a transfer success rate of 99% or 100% - not surprising really, when the free assessment will easily identify those UK pensions that cannot be transferred. There is no grey zone. The skills of the transferee cannot influence the outcome, as is the case when receiving immigration advice for example.

Clients who are unaware of these nuances continue to be lured into United Kingdom pension transfers at extremely high prices.

NZ Funds business model: Free transfer & competitive management fees

NZ Funds is a privately owned wealth management firm, founded to run Lion Nathan’s pension scheme in 1988. It has a 30-year track record of managing New Zealanders’ wealth in various forms including superannuation, KiwiSaver and managed funds for retirement.

NZ Funds entered the UK Pension transfer market with a simple proposition. Using its in-house management team and nationwide network of offices, NZ Funds offers a free UK Pension transfer service, subject to the type of pension being transferred. Defined contribution pensions can be transferred for free, while the more complicated defined benefit pensions may incur UK advice costs due to UK regulation.

Clients have a choice of keeping all or part of their investment exposed to pounds sterling, and all clients receive wholesale exchange rates with no markup going to NZ Funds. NZ Funds does not charge exit fees on any of its funds, so if clients wish to move to another scheme they are free to do so, so long as they transfer to another registered superannuation scheme approved to take UK pension money.

NZ Funds overwhelmed by demand for its new service

Since entering the market NZ Funds’ QROPS-registered Managed Superannuation Service has snowballed in size to over $30 million. Ellie Jarvis, who joined NZ Funds from EY in 2018 as a UK immigrant and expert in United Kingdom high net worth tax, heads NZ Funds UK Pension transfer team. The team receives, on average, one or two new transfer enquiries a day with transfer values ranging between $5,000 and close to $5 million and have a further transfer pipeline of over $20 million work in progress.

They regularly receive referrals from accountants, lawyers and tax specialists throughout New Zealand, helping them to transfer their clients’ pensions within the four-year tax-free window New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department offers new immigrants.

If you would like NZ Funds to review your situation please do not hesitate to contact Ellie Jarvis:
T. 09 918 9784
M. 022 061 1033
E. ellie.jarvis@nzfunds.co.nz

Ellie’s advice is of a general nature, and she is not responsible for any loss that any reader may suffer from following it. A copy of Ellie’s disclosure statement is available on request, free of charge.

Ellie Jarvis is an Authorised Financial Adviser at NZ Funds.

Tags: NZ Funds pension transfers