The number of Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) has hit yet another new high with 3,416 pensions detailed on the latest HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) listings.
Published on July 1, 2014, the HMRC QROPS list shows 24 new pensions opened in the past two weeks, while two are suspended from the list.
The number of pensions tops the previous high of 3,405 QROPS listed on June 1, 2014 for 42 financial jurisdictions.
The QROPS changes break down as –
- 13 additional pensions listed for Australia
- Four schemes added in Ireland
- Two each added for Latvia and the Isle of Man
- One each added for the Netherlands, Jersey and Italy
- Two are missing from the list – one each for South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago
Top 10 QROPS centres tighten grip
The latest QROPS list show the top 10 financial centres have increased their market share by number of pensions during the past year – rising from hosting 82% of all QROPS to just under 90%.
However, three new QROPS centre are beginning to emerge after breaking into the year-on-year top 10 for introducing the most new schemes – Gibraltar (27 new QROPS), Malta (12) and India (9).
In terms of market share by number of QROPS, each of the countries has a small slice of the pie:
Gibraltar increased from 0.38% to1.08% in the past 12 months, while India grew from 0,69% to 0.79% and Malta 0.34% to 0.38%.
The QROPS list does not take into account the amount of money invested in each scheme or financial centre.
HMRC will publish the next QROPS list on July 15, 2014.
| QROPS - Top 10 Financial Centres | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Count of QROPS | |
| July 1, 2013 | July 1, 2014 | |
| Australia | 914 | 1415 |
| Ireland | 641 | 758 |
| Isle of Man | 192 | 224 |
| Switzerland | 132 | 139 |
| Jersey | 128 | 136 |
| Netherlands | 97 | 110 |
| Canada | 92 | 95 |
| Guernsey | 29 | 71 |
| Germany | 32 | 55 |
| New Zealand | 53 | 55 |
| Total | 2310 | 3058 |
| Source: HMRC | ||
| QROPS - Top 10 Jurisdictions Adding Most QROPS | ||
| Year To: | ||
| July 1, 2014 | ||
| Australia | 501 | |
| Ireland | 117 | |
| Guernsey | 42 | |
| Isle of Man | 32 | |
| Gibraltar | 27 | |
| New Zealand | 23 | |
| Netherlands | 13 | |
| Malta | 12 | |
| India | 9 | |
| Jersey | 8 | |
| Total: | 784 | |
| Source: HMRC | ||
| QROPS - Top 10 Jurisdictions by Market Share | ||
| Year To: | ||
| July 1, 2013 | July 1, 2014 | |
| Australia | 34.9% | 41.3% |
| Ireland | 22.2% | 22.2% |
| Isle of Man | 6.6% | 6.5% |
| Switzerland | 4.1% | 4.1% |
| Jersey | 4.0% | 4.0% |
| Netherlands | 3.2% | 3.2% |
| Canada | 2.8% | 2.8% |
| Guernsey | 1.1% | 2.1% |
| Germany | 1.6% | 2.0% |
| France | 1.1% | 1.4% |
| Total: | 81.5% | 89.7% |
| Source: HMRC | ||
