Pension Transfer Specialists For Non-UK Residents
The Wealth Genesis is a fully regulated, independent and flat-fee pension transfer specialist, providing services to British Expats around the world.
If you are an expat living abroad and unsure how to maximise your UK pension plans, our financial advisers can assist.
In this guide, we will run through the key considerations, due-diligence procedures, and processes involved in completing a successful pension transfer for non-UK residents.
Understanding An Expat Pension Transfer
Before you consider transferring your UK pensions abroad, we would encourage all clients to complete thorough due-diligence, both on their existing schemes, as well as any adviser they choose to engage with. The first step is to understand if a pension transfer abroad is right for you. To do this, we encourage all expats to ask their existing UK pension providers the following questions:
Will you pay my pension benefits as and when I wish to receive them as a non-UK resident, or are there restrictions?
Can I continue to manage and change my investments to fit in with my goals?
Can you pay pension income to my international, or local bank account, or does it have to be paid into a UK account?
Do you offer multi-currency investment options, as I now live abroad and this may be of interest?
The above list is not exhaustive, but if you are unhappy with any of the responses to these questions, then it is perhaps a good idea to consider engaging with an expat financial advisor.
Note, the above questions are applicable for all standard money purchase (defined contribution) pension schemes, and defined benefit advice will vary. To understand how defined benefit transfers abroad would work, see our below article, on a step-by-step process to transferring your defined benefit pension abroad.
Steps To Transferring A Defined Benefit Pension Abroad
Choosing The Right Expat Financial Adviser
Before deciding to work with a financial adviser, we suggest taking the following steps to ensure your protection. Note, the international world of finance is not necessarily as regulated as the UK, and as such, failure to take the correct steps can result in significantly overpaying for services, and in certain instances even being scammed by fraudulent advice firms.
Always check an adviser's qualifications, as well as their regulatory permissions. For example, if you live in France, make sure they are qualified to provide investment advice in France, as well as having the permissions to deal with French residents.
Understand fully exactly what you are paying, and what that is paying for. Charges should never be complicated, or confusing. At The Wealth Genesis, we charge all our clients the same one off, flat-fee for all UK pension transfers, regardless of the value, or number of pensions being transferred. If in any proposal, an adviser cannot tell you what they are charging to the pound and pence, be very wary. Most international financial advisors will charge between 5% and 1% of your UK pension value - some may charge even more. Whilst cost isn't everything, do not pay over the odds to transfer your UK pensions as this will eat into your retirement income.
Check reviews of the firm you are engaging with, whether that's google reviews or Trust pilot. Don't be afraid to ask for references from existing clients.
Understand the ongoing relationship with your expat financial adviser, as well as the ongoing costs. The Wealth Genesis conducts quarterly reviews with all our clients, which is included in our annual management fee of 0.85% per annum.
Finally, if you see or hear the terms 'early withdrawal charge', 'exit penalties' or anything to that effect, this means commissions are being paid to the financial adviser which can be substantial. Be wary of firms that operate on this basis as you are likely being overcharged for your pension transfer abroad.
Expat Investment Costs & Financial Planning Fees
Financial advice is not cheap, nor is it ever free if done properly. Trustworthy advisers pay insurance fees, as well as regulatory fees to provide the correct advice. Putting together a bespoke investment plan for individual clients is also time-consuming. As previously mentioned, most firms will charge between 5% and 1% of the investment value (or pension transfer value). This is fairly standard, although we feel anything over 3% to be excessive.
As well as transfer and pension setup costs, there will also be underlying fund fees, which can reduce the value of your investments. Make sure you understand all these costs, and that you are not overpaying for expensive funds, when a tracker or low cost ETF fund would suffice.
Pension Transfer Advice Process
The below provide an accurate and standard process of transferring your pension and the advice process with a pension transfer specialist:
Conduct an initial fact-find or discovery meeting with your expat advisor. In this meeting, your advisor should learn about you, your priorities and goals, whether that's taking an initial lump sum from your pension and a subsequent monthly draw-down, or aggressive long-term capital growth. Your advisor should understand your risk profile, as well your overall financial strategy at this stage. There is usually no fee associated with this initial consultation.
Armed with all of this information, your expat financial advisor should then provide you with a bespoke and detailed pension transfer report, which details the costs of transferring, your new scheme information, compliant products, your investments as well as their regulation and permissions. This report should be simple to understand, and normally a meeting is conducted to run through the pension report together, whether in person or over a video call.
If and once you are happy with everything, the adviser can then set up your new pension account and implement the pension transfer for you, providing all correct documentation is signed.
Once the transfer is submitted, it can take between 1 and 3 months to complete, depending on the type of scheme you hold (DB pensions can take longer than defined contribution pensions, as well as cost more).
Once completed, you should then have a follow up call to run through and recap the investments with your adviser, taking into account any changes in financial markets and conditions.
The Wealth Genesis | Expat Pension Transfer Specialists
The Wealth Genesis and our fully qualified financial advisers all hold a minimum of 10 years experience in advising clients through complex cross-border pension transfers.
