The latest QROPS List details just over a thousand pensions, with the number growing healthily every couple of weeks.
Australia QROPS, which suffered such a disaster with the pension age test in 2015, are bouncing back.
From just one scheme in June, 2015, Australia now has 137 QROPS.
Many providers have launched new pensions with a clause written into the contract that does not allow anyone aged under 55 to take out a QROPS.
This allows Australian providers to sidestep the pension age test without any major local pension rule changes.
Flexible access was a thorn in the market
The Isle of Man has shown some resilience to take over as the leading QROPS centre by number of pensions.
With 206 QROPS, the IoM is streets ahead of second-place Guernsey, which has 137 QROPS – the same number as Australia.
Flexible access has proved a thorn in the side of the industry during the past year, and only Malta has aligned local pension laws with UK regulations to allow the option to QROPS investors – and only one pension offers the facility out of 24.
Gibraltar, Malta and the Isle of Man seem to have survived when so many others have bitten the dust because they offer ‘third party’ QROPS which allow expats to live wherever they wish in the world while basing their pensions within the financial centres.
QROPS Year by Year Summary
We review and summarise the QROPS news for each year from the launch of QROPS to now. Click on the below links to read:
QROPS OFFSHORE PENSIONS AFTER 10 YEARS
QROPS 2006 – A-Day Launches New Offshore Pension
QROPS 2007 – A Year Of Explosive Growth
QROPS 2008 – HMRC Cracks Down On Rogue Pensions
QROPS 2009 – Gibraltar Tax Problem Rocks Expats
QROPS 2010 – Singapore Legal Challenge Launched
QROPS 2011 – Rooting Out The Rogues
QROPS 2012 – Hundreds of Pensions Delisted
QROPS 2013 – HMRC Humiliated In High Court
QROPS 2014 – Flexible Access On the Way
QROPS 2015 – No One Foresaw The Pension Age Test
Further QROPS Information and Guidance
For more information about QROPS and the benefits it provides, download the iExpats QROPS Guide or complete the Get Advice form.
