QROPS providers in some financial centres are dashing to open more tax effective offshore pensions for expats.
Providers worldwide are opening an average three new QROPS pensions every two days, with official figures showing 458 schemes hit the market in a year.
Guernsey leads the way, where the number of QROPS has almost increased by 300% from 12 to 46, although in April 2012, providers stopped taking transfers from non-residents.
Gibraltar, which only had QROPS status confirmed by HM Revenue and Customs in September 2012 has seen an 80% rise – from 10 to 18 pensions.
Making up the top five are New Zealand QROPS (+73%), Isle of Man QROPS (+52%) and Malta QROPS (+50%).
New QROPS worldwide
The latest list, published on June 15, 2013, by HMRC, reveals 21 new QROPS have opened worldwide in the past 14 days.
The total number of QROPS has jumped up from 3,044 to a new peak of 3,065.
The number of QROPS financial centres is unchanged at 46 since June , 2013.
Australia leads the way by number of schemes – adding 14 in the past 14 days and 247 in the past 12 months. The number of QROPS has increased 27% from 927 to 1,174 in a year, giving the country a 38.3% share of the market.
The losers are Jersey, where QROPS numbers were down 4% or five pensions, from 138 to 133 in the past year. Finland dropped four QROPS – down from eight to four in the year, while Slovakia lost QROPS status completely, with four schemes missing from the list.
As reported first here at iExpats, Slovakia is the only financial centre to lose QROPS status in the past year.
HMRC publishes a list of QROPS schemes every fortnight.
To understand more about these schemes, read our Basics of QROPS page here.
QROPS Market Comparison By Financial Centre
| Country | QROPS 23/05/2012 | QROPS 01/06/2013 | QROPS 15/06/2013 | Market % 15/06/2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 927 | 1160 | 1174 | 38.30% |
| Austria | 9 | 9 | 9 | 0.29% |
| Bangladesh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Barbados | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0.13% |
| Belgium | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0.72% |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0.10% |
| Canada | 95 | 98 | 98 | 3.20% |
| Czech Republic | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0.13% |
| Denmark | 9 | 8 | 8 | 0.26% |
| European Union | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Finland | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.13% |
| France | 36 | 39 | 39 | 1.27% |
| Germany | 54 | 53 | 53 | 1.73% |
| Gibraltar | 10 | 18 | 18 | 0.59% |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Guernsey | 12 | 44 | 46 | 1.50% |
| Hong Kong | 25 | 26 | 26 | 0.85% |
| Hungary | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Iceland | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0.10% |
| India | 18 | 18 | 18 | 0.59% |
| Ireland | 651 | 708 | 710 | 23.16% |
| Isle of Man | 143 | 217 | 217 | 7.08% |
| Italy | 39 | 45 | 45 | 1.47% |
| Jamaica | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.07% |
| Jersey | 138 | 133 | 133 | 4.34% |
| Latvia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Liechtenstein | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0.07% |
| Luxembourg | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0.26% |
| Malaysia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Malta | 10 | 15 | 15 | 0.49% |
| Mauritius | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.07% |
| New Zealand | 26 | 44 | 45 | 1.47% |
| Norway | 5 | 7 | 7 | 0.23% |
| Portugal | 23 | 23 | 23 | 0.75% |
| Russian Federation | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| South Africa | 30 | 31 | 31 | 1.01% |
| Spain | 13 | 16 | 16 | 0.52% |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| St Lucia | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0.10% |
| St Vincent & The Grenadines | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.03% |
| Sweden | 6 | 7 | 7 | 0.23% |
| Switzerland | 137 | 136 | 138 | 4.50% |
| The Netherlands | 95 | 103 | 103 | 3.36% |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0.10% |
| Turkey | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0.10% |
| USA | 15 | 14 | 14 | 0.46% |
| Grand Total | 2603 | 3044 | 3065 | 100.00% |
Source: HMRC June 2013
