The global Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) market started 2015 on a record high.
With 3,634 QROPS pensions offered by 45 financial centres worldwide, retirement savers have never had so many schemes to choose from.
Putting 2014 into perspective for QROPS –
- 412 new pensions opened for business
- 31 pensions closed
- 3 new financial centres introduced new QROPS – Kenya, Kosovo and The Falkland Islands
Australia remained the leading QROPS centre by number of QROPS – accounting for 286 of the new pensions that opened during the year.
In total, Australia offer 1,581 QROPS and has grabbed a 43.5% share of the market.
The only other nations in triple figures are Ireland (779); the Isle of Man (227), Switzerland (140), Jersey (139) and The Netherlands (116).
Jersey has started 2015 by changing local QROPS rules to allow retirement savers living off the Channel Island to move their pension savings there.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will publish a new QROPS List update on January 15, 2015.
| Top 10 QROPS Tables - January 1, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Count of QROPS pensions | ||
| Values | ||
| Jurisdiction | January 1, 2014 | January 1, 2015 |
| Australia | 1295 | 1581 |
| Ireland | 736 | 779 |
| Isle of Man | 230 | 227 |
| Switzerland | 135 | 140 |
| Jersey | 136 | 139 |
| Netherlands | 106 | 116 |
| Canada | 99 | 94 |
| Guernsey | 56 | 87 |
| New Zealand | 55 | 59 |
| Germany | 56 | 55 |
| Total: | 2904 | 3277 |
| Market share by number of QROPS | ||
| Jurisdiction | January 1, 2014 | January 1, 2015 |
| Australia | 39.81% | 43.51% |
| Ireland | 22.63% | 21.44% |
| Isle of Man | 7.07% | 6.25% |
| Jersey | 4.18% | 3.82% |
| Switzerland | 4.15% | 3.85% |
| Netherlands | 3.26% | 3.19% |
| Canada | 3.04% | 2.59% |
| Germany | 1.72% | 1.51% |
| Guernsey | 1.72% | 2.39% |
| New Zealand | 1.69% | 1.62% |
| Total: | 89.27% | 90.18% |
| QROPS opening | ||
| Jurisdiction | Change since January 1, 2014 | |
| Australia | 286 | |
| Ireland | 43 | |
| Guernsey | 31 | |
| Gibraltar | 11 | |
| Netherlands | 10 | |
| Switzerland | 5 | |
| New Zealand | 4 | |
| Malta | 4 | |
| Jersey | 3 | |
| Latvia | 2 | |
| Liechtenstein | 2 | |
| Italy | 2 | |
| Belgium | 1 | |
| Norway | 1 | |
| Denmark | 1 | |
| South Africa | 1 | |
| Falkland Islands | 1 | |
| Kenya | 1 | |
| Luxembourg | 1 | |
| Austria | 1 | |
| Kosovo | 1 | |
| Total: | 412 | |
| QROPS closing | ||
| Jurisdiction | Change since January 1, 2014 | |
| India | -16 | |
| Canada | -5 | |
| France | -4 | |
| Isle of Man | -3 | |
| Germany | -1 | |
| Sweden | -1 | |
| Total: | -30 | |
