Our FCA Accredited UK Advice Partner (Independent Financial Advisers UK)
The overseas pensions market and ensuring your advisers are accredited (UK FCA Accreditation/ Independent Financial Adviser UK)
When transferring your UK pension to Australia, without doubt, the best outcomes are a product of expert advice that properly considers your situation from both an Australian and UK perspective.
Unfortunately, however, the overseas pensions market attracts all types of advisers. Despite legislation, some advisers are regulated in the UK, but many are either regulated outside of the UK or are not regulated at all.
Pension transfers (and the subsequent investment of these funds) are an area that have been targeted heavily by scammers and those using unethical practices. While the UK FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has tried to crack down there are still companies finding loopholes with the intention of making quick and easy money at the expense (often catastrophically) of the policyholders. It is critical that all UK advice is provided by an ‘FCA Accredited UK Adviser’ (Independent Financial Adviser UK).
In our experience, there are often some similarities in these unethical behaviours which tend to result in very poor outcomes.
WhEN IS UK Advice REQUIRED?
UK advice is required for all Defined Benefit transfers over £30K or where there is a guaranteed anuity rate. In 2015 the UK Government introduced legislation, ruling that all advice on these transfers must be provided by FCA Regulated Firms.
OUR UK ADVICE PARTNER
Our experience working with UK-affiliated businesses spans 25 years.
In choosing our UK advice partner, we focussed on finding a business that shares the same values and belief system as our own. Central to this is the ability to put the best interests of clients above anything else; someone prepared to say a transfer may or may not be in your best interest and be able to provide evidentiary support for their recommendations.
As such, we choose to partner with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated, Cradle Overseas Pensions Limited (Cradle).
The PTX-Cradle Service
Before you take any action, or incur any fees, together we will ensure that you understand:
- The clear differences between your existing pensions, and the UK and overseas options
- Any benefits relevant to your personal circumstances
- The downside of the options available (UK and overseas)
- For Defined Benefit Schemes, the true cost of what you are giving up
- What the fees relate to, and how they have been calculated
- The Regulatory and Policyholder protection that exists
Whilst we work extremely closely with Cradle on a daily basis, it is worth noting that FinSec and Cradle are separate entities, and the respective shareholders of each business do not have any interest in the other. That said, the feedback from clients is that the combined process is thoroughly seamless with FinSec maintaining oversight at every stage.
WHAT CRADLE’S PENSION TRANSFER GOLD STANDARD MEANS FOR YOU
The Pension Transfer Gold Standard is a voluntary code of good practice for safeguarded and defined benefit transfer advice that is underpinned by adherence to nine principles. These are designed to empower you to:
- Make an informed decision on whether a transfer of your pension benefits is appropriate for you.
- Help in understanding what good advice in this area should look like.
ABOUT CRADLE OVERSEAS PENSIONS LTD
Cradle Overseas Pensions Ltd (Cradle) is a leading UK FCA regulated financial advice firm, providing independent UK advice in the main on QROPS, QNUPS, International Pension Plans and UK pensions (including SIPPS).
Fully qualified to provide advice on transfers from all UK individual and occupational pension schemes, Cradle’s global list of clients include expatriates and migrants residing in almost every corner of the world.
Since 2016 they have increasingly focussed on and now specialise in pension transfers to Australia.
Testament to their professionalism is their achievement of the ‘Pension Transfer Gold Standard’. The standard is a voluntary code of good practice for safeguarded and defined benefit transfer advice that is underpinned by adherence to nine core principles designed to ensure:
- advice is provided in a manner that enables an informed decision on whether a transfer of your pension benefits is appropriate for you; and
- helps you in understanding what good advice in this area should look like.
This standard is awarded by the Personal Finance Society (PFS) in the UK and should be seen as an important part of any client’s selection process.
