GPI Europe

Macavity23

Hello
I wondered if you could confirm that the above company is legitimate as they are offering to transfer my pension and don't want to lose out.

Thanks

NottinghamKnight

They presumably approached you? I'd politely decline if I were you and look for a local IFA if you need help with your pension.

xylophone

they are offering to transfer my pension and don't want to lose out.

Why do you want/need to transfer your pension?  Miss out on what?

Why did you contact this particular company? Or were you cold called?

Why did you not contact a local IFA?

http://www.gpipensions.com/pensions/

GPI Europe S.R.O., headquartered at Zochova 6-8, Bratislava, Slovakia, is regulated by the National Bank of Slovakia (https://www.nbs.sk/en/home) under reference number 100-000-088-597 and also by the UK’s FCA (https://register.fca.org.uk/) with reference number 807763.

dunstonh

I wondered if you could confirm that the above company is legitimate as they are offering to transfer my pension and don't want to lose out.

They don't want to lose out or you don't want to lose out?  What would you be losing out on?

Did they cold call you?  (that is banned on pensions and is an indicator of potential fraud).  As the FCA site says:

Three is a company called GPI Europe SRO based in Slovakia who offer financial services in the EEA but, according to the FCA register, it is for insurance distribution or reinsurance distribution.   There were no pension permissions or advice permissions.  GPI's website indicates they do not provide regulated financial advice and are not a provider/retailer of pensions.

There is a limited company called GPI Europe Ltd that was incorporated in January of this year but is recorded as dormant.

It is possible that the genuine company is being cloned scammed (very common nowadays - especially on cold calls)

It would help if you told us how you came across them?  Did you approach them?  Did they approach you (and how)?

Macavity23

They contacted me.  They came to my house and it seemed to be very plausible. Here is an excerpt of an email they sent after

As I mentioned they are virtually identical in nature with one massive difference being the tax treatment. Due to the size of your transfer value you are well within the LTA limit, so this is not applicable, but the valuable gross pension payments when in “ draw down “ is still applicable to you and when compounded over a period of years gives considerable benefit. Another considerable benefit is that you are able to draw down your 25% tax free in phases over many years, rather than having to take the amount in one year.

 

I would also like to deal strongly with the benefits of transferring into a QROPS (overseas investment) pension rather than a SIPPS (UK invested). 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

What is the pension you have now that they are interested in taking a cut of?

Defined benefit (final salary/CARE) or defined contribution?

xylophone

Three is a company called GPI Europe SRO based in Slovakia who offer financial services in the EEA but, according to the FCA register, it is for insurance distribution or reinsurance distribution.   There were no pension permissions or advice permissions.  GPI's website indicates they do not provide regulated financial advice and are not a provider/retailer of pensions.

They say

Current legislation requires you to take advice from a qualified Pension Transfer Specialist if you’re transferring out of a safe guarded benefit scheme worth £30,000 or over. At GPI Europe we provide factual information on any UK pensions and where required we outsource UK regulated pensions advice to third party advisers who do have FCA pension permissions for the UK.

xylophone

They contacted me.

Cold called? See duncan's post above.

dunstonh

They contacted me.  

That is cold calling.  That is not allowed.

I would also like to deal strongly with the benefits of transferring into a QROPS (overseas investment) pension rather than a SIPPS (UK invested). 

This is like ticking a checklist of potenial scam warnings.

https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/publications/protect-your-pension-pot.pdf

Are you moving to another country? (which is where QROPS can apply. However, it is also often used in scams where people are remaining in the UK).

McNeil65

This simply cannot be true, surely if there was “fraud” given it was a regulated transfer under a U.K. pension regulated adviser firm, even had there been the slightest thing wrong about the transfer it would undoubtedly have been addressed by the Regulator and/or the Ombudsman, never mind a fraud!? But they were “useless” because they didn’t agree with you?
Care should be taken when throwing around accusations of “fraud” especially in the realm of pension transfers.

woolly_wombat

McNeil65 said:

This simply cannot be true, surely if there was “fraud” given it was a regulated transfer under a U.K. pension regulated adviser firm, even had there been the slightest thing wrong about the transfer it would undoubtedly have been addressed by the Regulator and/or the Ombudsman, never mind a fraud!? But they were “useless” because they didn’t agree with you?
Care should be taken when throwing around accusations of “fraud” especially in the realm of pension transfers.

What is your connection to ‘CGI Europe’?