The Diamond Personal Pension Plan
A trust-based QROPS for transfers from UK and approved schemes.
The EFPG Diamond Personal Pension Plan Scheme (the “Scheme”) is a trust based QROPS which is administered by European Financial Planning Group who also act as the Scheme trustee. It is a personal pension scheme which has the objective of providing retirement benefits for members.
Key features and benefits
- Accepts transfers from existing UK registered and other approved pension schemes as long as their rules permit.
- Protects funds transferred into the Scheme from possible adverse changes in tax and pension legislation in the originating country.
- No specified limits on the size of transfers into the Scheme.
- Access to retirement benefits from age 55. Unless otherwise agreed with the trustee, commencement of income drawdown must be before age 75 or any other maximum age allowed by Gibraltar regulations.
- Up to 30% Pension Commencement Lump Sum available, provided a lump sum has not already previously been withdrawn from transferred scheme benefits (25% for UK transfers where commencement starts before the member has been a non-UK tax resident for ten complete tax years).
- On death, your nominated beneficiaries may receive the funds remaining in your Scheme. This can be free of UK Inheritance tax but it is dependent on the beneficiary's personal circumstances. Initial planning and tax advice is recommended and should be sought.
- There is no requirement to purchase an insurance annuity and various income options are available.
- Depending on your country of tax residence, potentially significantly lower rates of income tax payable on pension income.
- Provides the opportunity to consolidate previous separate pension rights into one efficient arrangement for the future.
- Provides the opportunity to denominate your pension scheme benefits in an alternative currency applicable to your new country of residence.
Members or their nominated professional adviser can brief EFPG as to their investment preferences. The trustee must, however, always execute investments within the parameters of allowable investments, diversification and prudency as required by their regulators (the GFSC) and the Gibraltar Income Tax Office and in accordance with their duty of care. The final decision in respect to the permissibility and the overall weighting of investments within the Scheme rests with the trustee. EFPG does not accept responsibility for, or liability in respect of, the performance of any investments, or for liabilities associated with any investment.
The Gibraltar Tax Office may prohibit or impose restrictions and/or set conditions on certain types of investment. These include but are not limited to the following: the trustee must not engage in any transactions nor grant any loans from the Scheme to its members or connected persons. Scheme funds may be invested in residential property but only if it is in Gibraltar. Investments in unquoted shares must be subject to independent valuation, and all dealings must be at arm's length and on commercial terms.
Allowable investments
Subject to trustee approval, the scheme may typically invest in:
- Quoted shares and other stock-market portfolios (unlisted stocks may be considered on a case by case basis)
- Quoted fixed-interest securities and other bonds
- Unit trusts, OEICs, offshore funds and other pooled funds
- Bank and building society accounts
- Insurance bonds
This page is a summary only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Full terms are set out in the scheme rules and particulars, which are available on request. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in future.
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