Australia QROPS are striding back to head the international pension market place after rule changes closed hundreds of schemes last June.
Another 24 pensions for expats opened in the past two weeks, bringing the number available in Australia to 137 – which puts Australia at second place in the market by number of QROPS alongside Guernsey.
Prior to HM Revenue and Customs pulling authorisation for Australia QROPS, the country had more than 50% of the number of pensions available worldwide – 1,653 of 3,703 QROPS.
The rule change stopped Australia pensions that paid out to savers under 55s from qualifying as QROPS.
Since then, Australian international pension providers have started offering schemes that are only open to retirement savers aged 55 or over to work around the pension age test.
How QROPS are shaping up
The test was introduced on April 6, 2015 to bring overseas pension rules in line with a UK pension law overhaul that introduced flexible access to retirement funds.
In the same period since the last QROPS List, two pensions opened in Ireland and one each in Germany and The Netherlands, while one scheme closed in Gibraltar.
Overall, the QROPS market numbers 1,050 pensions across 41 financial centres – up 27 from March 1.
The Isle of Man still heads the market with an unchanged 206 QROPS on the latest list. The number of financial centres remains unchanged.
The last time the QROPS List had around 1,050 pensions was in November 2007.
HMRC will publish the next QROPS List on April 1, 2016.
QROPS List By Financial Jurisdiction
| Country | No of QROPS |
|---|---|
| Australia | 137 |
| Austria | 8 |
| Barbados | 1 |
| Belgium | 14 |
| Bulgaria | 2 |
| Canada | 64 |
| Czech Republic | 2 |
| Denmark | 4 |
| European Union | 1 |
| France | 11 |
| Germany | 32 |
| Gibraltar | 46 |
| Greece | 1 |
| Guernsey | 137 |
| Hong Kong | 12 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Iceland | 1 |
| India | 10 |
| Ireland | 86 |
| Isle of Man | 206 |
| Italy | 19 |
| Jamaica | 1 |
| Jersey | 85 |
| Kenya | 1 |
| Kosovo | 1 |
| Latvia | 3 |
| Liechtenstein | 3 |
| Luxembourg | 4 |
| Malta | 24 |
| Mauritius | 1 |
| Netherlands | 64 |
| New Zealand | 31 |
| Norway | 6 |
| Portugal | 4 |
| South Africa | 12 |
| Spain | 3 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 |
| Sweden | 6 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| Turkey | 2 |
| United States of America | 2 |
| Total | 1050 |
Source: HMRC
For more information about QROPS and the benefits it provides, download the iExpats QROPS Guide or complete the Get Advice form.
