The Pensioneer Trustee Company (Guernsey) Limited

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Staying afloat through retirement means making financial preparations during your working life. However, UAE employers’ ambivalence towards addressing the need for retirement savings means employees must fend for themselves, assisted to some extent by the end of service gratuity.


 

Guernsey is an ideal base for International Pension Plans. It has an outstanding reputation as an International Financial jurisdiction, and is a centre of excellence for financial services and pension innovation. In a volatile world Guernsey offers reassuring political stability, a high degree of regulation and is recognised as one of the world’s premier International offshore centres. As one of the leading financial centres in the world, Guernsey has attracted and developed unrivalled expertise in financial services products, legislation and innovation. It is this expertise that makes Guernsey a natural choice where International Pensions and practical solutions are required. Guernsey also has an established domestic and international pension system that has been successful over 30 years.


Legal and General (L&G) has reinsured longevity risk relating to $2.9bn (£1.9bn) of pension liabilities in its bulk annuity business through Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company.

It is the reinsurer's second longevity hedging transaction with L&G after completing a deal covering £1.35bn of liabilities last October.


IORP is a EU-wide directive to harmonise pension schemes across member states. It was first introduced in 2003 but revised in 2014. 

The European Parliament is currently looking at the European Commission’s proposed amendments to the directive. These, say Towers Watson, include the proposal that any bulk transfers across borders should, subject to national legislation, require approval of all scheme members or their representatives. Under a draft report from Irish Euro-MP Brian Hayes, rapporteur appointed by the parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, approval should be obtained even in bulk transfers between schemes in the same member state. The draft report also said approval could be given by a majority of scheme members or their representatives. 



The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is seeking comments from the pensions industry on plans to create a standard pan-European personal pension product.

The European Union wants to encourage more EU citizens to save for an adequate retirement income by creating a truly internal European pan-European pension products (PEPP) market. EIOPA has been asked by the European Commission to provide advice on whether new legislation is needed to create on an internal market for the personal pension schemes and, if so, what measures should be proposed. 


The Prudential Insurance Company of America recently completed what is believed to be the largest longevity risk transfer transaction to date, having reinsured longevity risk of the BT Pension Scheme.

Longevity risk is faced by all providers of defined benefit pension schemes and has been the subject of a number of deals as schemes have sought to reduce the risk of people living longer. Increased life expectancy increases the liabilities associated with a defined benefit pension scheme. The Prudential Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) entered into the reinsurance transaction with the Guernsey based captive insurer of the BT Pension Scheme, effecting the transfer of a quarter of the scheme's exposure to increasing longevity and so hedging around $16 billion of liabilities.

 


The European lawmaker appointed as rapporteur for the IORP Directive has warned that the law must not damage existing pension systems and insisted he would take time to engage with stakeholders as he drafted his report on the legislation.


Employer Financed Retirement Benefits Schemes (EFRBS) for a while were a popular pension planning tool as they appeared to allow a Corporation Tax deduction for employer contributions to an EFRBS scheme on the basis that either (a) the contribution to the EFRBS or (b) a subsequent transfer to a second EFRBS is a ‘qualifying benefit’. This allowed the company to secure a Corporation Tax deduction before any benefits are actually paid by the scheme to the employee.


Taxpayers who have been paid through disputed trust arrangements have been warned they may face payment demands from the UK tax authority after a settlement window closes this month.


Some governments raid private accounts in times of need.


 

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The Pensioneer Trustee Company (Guernsey) Limited
2nd Floor, Maison Trinity,
Rue du Pre, St Peter Port,
Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 1LT

Registered No.27891

+44 (0) 1481 743760

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Regulatory Information

The Pensioneer Trustee Company (Guernsey) Limited is licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under The Regulation of Fiduciaries, Administration Businesses and Company Directors, etc. (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020, as part of a Group of which PTC Fiduciaries Limited is the Primary Licensee and The Pensioneer Trustee Company (Guernsey) Limited is a Secondary Licensee and is permitted to carry on by way of business, regulated activities under s.2(1)(e) of the Law.