HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) fortnightly list of Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) gives no clue as to where the money goes but does help expat retirement savers see the movers and shakers in the world of offshore pensions.
But just because one financial centre has a lot more QROPS than another does not mean its necessarily the right place to park pension cash.
Looking at the 60 page list can give expats a good idea of where schemes are opening and closing, but each jurisdiction tends to have a twist on the rules.
For instance, Ireland is the home of many corporate QROPS, while Australia has almost double the number of schemes. However, many Australian QROPS are for individuals rather than corporations.
Expat pension decisions
Other rules that can affect decisions about moving cash offshore include whether schemes are resident only – like Guernsey and Jersey – or ‘third party’ pensions that let expats live in one country and park their pension in another – like Gibraltar and Malta.
The Top 10 tables below are an indicator of how the QROPS market works, but are based on the HMRC QROPS List, which does not reveal how much money is banked in schemes in each centre.
Market share is based on the number of QROPS hosted in each financial jurisdiction, not the amount of money invested.
Making a choice about which jurisdiction to pick for an expat pension depends on factors like tax residence, interaction between cross-border tax laws and how the money in a fund is managed.
| Count of QROPS pensions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Values | ||
| Jurisdiction | September 1,2013 | September 1, 2014 |
| Australia | 1224 | 1462 |
| Ireland | 720 | 764 |
| Isle of Man | 227 | 223 |
| Switzerland | 138 | 139 |
| Jersey | 135 | 137 |
| Netherlands | 104 | 114 |
| Canada | 98 | 96 |
| Guernsey | 50 | 79 |
| New Zealand | 48 | 59 |
| Germany | 56 | 55 |
| Total: | 2800 | 3128 |
| Source: HMRC | ||
| Market share by number of QROPS | ||
| Jurisdiction | September 01, 2013 | September 01, 2014 |
| Australia | 42.06% | 39.14% |
| Ireland | 21.98% | 23.03% |
| Isle of Man | 6.42% | 7.26% |
| Switzerland | 4.00% | 4.41% |
| Jersey | 3.94% | 4.32% |
| Netherlands | 3.28% | 3.33% |
| Canada | 2.76% | 3.13% |
| Germany | 1.58% | 1.79% |
| Guernsey | 2.27% | 1.60% |
| New Zealand | 1.70% | 1.54% |
| Grand Total | 89.99% | 89.54% |
| Source: HMRC | ||
| Most QROPS added since September 1, 2014 | ||
| Jurisdiction | Change Year-on-Year | |
| Australia | 238 | |
| Ireland | 44 | |
| Guernsey | 29 | |
| Gibraltar | 18 | |
| New Zealand | 11 | |
| Netherlands | 10 | |
| Malta | 6 | |
| Italy | 3 | |
| Hong Kong | 2 | |
| Latvia | 2 | |
| Jersey | 2 | |
| Luxembourg | 2 | |
| Austria | 2 | |
| Grand Total | 369 | |
| Source: HMRC | ||
