QROPS - Help is this dodgy?

MikeyBhoy67

Dear Sirs,

I need some advice please to help a friend who I think (hope I'm wrong) might be moving a pension pot into a "dodgy" scheme. I think it was from a cold call and these are involved:

• Portia Finance in Liverpool
• Harbour Pensions in Malta

I have read some forum threads regarding Portia and its associates and its scary!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Mike

agarnett

I think you are very right to be cautious.

The fact that it was a cold call of course means you have to be trebly or quadruply cautious.

I have wanted QROPS advice myself but I just can't seem to find anyone who is a proper expert on it. QROPS was I think originally conceived to cater for persons who had emigrated or planned to, and who would see out their retirement abroad somewhere. Lately however, it seems to be touted more and more as an offshore one (perhaps Middle-Eastern) size fits all, mobile tax avoidance thing. Maybe a QROPS set up in the Middle East and you flit around Europe drawing your pension tax free (apparently). My own view is that some countries are a little bit hotter than others (and I am not talking the weather but the local tax law enforcement!) so you must take a lot of what a QROPS salesman says with a pinch of salt, let alone keep at least a bargepole's distance whilst chatting!

There are plenty of firms with addresses all over the place who rate themselves as QROPS experts, but I have actually not found one yet that has impressed me with any level of technical competence which would ever tempt me to sign any form of authority to report, let alone a form entitling them to move my pension into a QROPS arrangement.

Tell your friend they might do far better explaining their ideas for retirement to a few people on this forum who may be able to point in the right direction, not necessarily to a particular IFA or QROPS outfit, but just to help your friend get some understanding of advantages and disadvantages of moving and / or drawing on a UK pension whilst resident abroad.

Portugal has been discussed a few times recently because there's a strong suggestion that if you play your cards right (and maybe without needing to hand control to any advisor) it's possible to upsticks and move to Portugal, and very soon (maybe only a year later) start drawing down your entire UK pension pot entirely tax free - and that (as far as I recall) does not involve QROPS, but as with everything, if it sounds too good to be true, then ... you know the rest ...

atush

Malta - a big fat NO DONT DO IT.

Even if you live overseas and perhaps need a Qrops, there are plenty of safer places to get one.

Tell him to STOP right now. They are scammers moving his money from a protected environment UK pension ot an unregulated scheme abroad where is unlikely to ever see his money again.

Why does he want to use Qrops? Is he 55 or over?

MikeyBhoy67

Thank you for your quick replies

He is the same age as me 48 and we have both been mates since we joined the RAF at the age of 17. He wanted to move previous employer pots for a better return and has no intention of moving overseas.
I've been researching as I work with an older workforce who are looking into the pension changes and I am concerned at what my mate has done and hope its not too late if this is one of many scams going on at the moment.

Mike

atush

Well he can move hos pension to any UK Sipp or pp or other employrs pension. If he wants better returns, he will get them here NOT there, as the returns there will in all likely hood be nil. and if it got returns, those would be used up by all the high charges with these scam pensions. Like Forests, hotels abroad, etc. Guaranteed returns backed up by butterflies and lies.

And I certainly hope he isn't thinking of moving his RAF pension, as it is valuable. Hopefully the new restrictions on unfunded public schemes will stop that in its tracks.

If his pension isn't performing, it is because of what it is invested in. My was well up this year, and 20% last year.

What things are his pensions in?

gadgetmind

atush wrote: »

What things are his pensions in?

The pockets of other people if he doesn't act fast!

MikeyBhoy67

He has or had exactly the same 12 year RAF pension as myself and mine is staying where it is for sure. The other was a decent amount from another previous employer scheme and he is now self-employed.

The combination of the two is a decent amount and I will speak to him tomorrow to find out if the transfer has gone through already (hope not)!

Thanks again for your quick comments and advice.

Mike

atush

If he signed papers recently, the RAF pension cant be moved, and before could only be moved with the help if an IFA.

If you are a friend, you'd take the time to speak to him today.

JasonPr

atush wrote: »

Malta - a big fat NO DONT DO IT.

Even if you live overseas and perhaps need a Qrops, there are plenty of safer places to get one.

What's wrong with Malta and what safer places are there? Just curious.

atush

Well lately, a lot of the Qrops pensions invested in dodgy investments have been run out of Malta. And people here have had difficulty gaining access to their funds (seach on Malta). I am sure there may be peroper operators there, but really the OPs friend doesn't qualify for a Qrops.

Some british offshore areas closer to home such as the IOM and the channel islands, have Qrops operated for those who can legally use them, ie those who have moved from the UK.

anyone told to use a Qrops who still lives in the UK, it is a big red flag.

Anyone 48 who is told they can get their hands on their pension (and aren't a sportsperson etc) is also a red flag as that is pension liberation and illegal. In that case, you could lose your money and then have to find 55% of the value elsewhere to pay the govt fines.

Kit_Carson

In the main, totally unsuitable for UK residents. If non- UK, then IOM has almost no double tax agreements and Guernsey is a non-starter.
Malta is in the EU and has a least two high quality QROPS firms but they are at the upper end of the market and have high due diligence on business introduced. No way would they accept business from Portia/Hudson Clarke ( Get onto Google ).

Some QROPS firms aren't overly fussy who they deal with or what rubbish is held within them- usually to the detriment of the client.