Enhanced Pension Scheme – A Working Partnership

Posted On: 12 Jun 2019

QNUPs launch announcement

Knox House Trust (KHT) are delighted to announce the launch of a new service offering for the benefit of current and perspective clients in the form of an Enhanced Pension Scheme in partnership with Knox Capital Solutions (KCS) and Optimus Pension Administrators Limited (“OPAL”).

The Enhanced Pension Scheme (‘EPS’) is a QNUPS (Qualifying Non-UK Pension Scheme), which means it is designed specifically to enable clients to achieve their retirement goals and meet any additional later life financial commitments as they arise. Retirement is getting more expensive. In addition to fulfilling all those lifelong retirement dreams, some of our clients will also face large bills in our retirement, such as education fees for children, or care costs for parents. However, with the lifetime allowance at an all-time low and the limitation of state benefits, traditional pension income may not be enough to fund all of this and enjoy the retirement you are planning.  This is where the EPS may help.

Clients are able to use the EPS to make additional provision for their retirement by acquiring property and other assets into an approved offshore pension scheme in order to provide additional income in retirement. The assets owned by the pension structure, once created, will be managed by KHT, with the regulatory requirements being provided by OPAL who are licensed in the Isle of Man.

As part of this launch, KCS has researched the QNUPS lending market place and now has an established panel of lenders who are able to assist should a client wish to maximise his/her own capital by initially leveraging their property acquisition within the QNUPS.

As an independent credit brokerage business, Knox Capital Solutions (KCS) has extensive experience in sourcing finance solutions for QNUPS property structures.  They have access to a wide range of lenders and alternative providers of finance in the market place with knowledge of the best terms available, which provides reassurance to clients.

Speaking about the new service offering, Ed Ogden (Managing Director) from KCS commented: “Our solutions are researched on a fully independent and “whole of market” basis from a wide panel of lenders who can consider this type of specialist property lending.  We recognise that every case is different, which is why our team invest time and care in discussing clients’ individual needs and creating financing solutions to match clients’ specific requirements.”

Adding his comments, Anthony Page (Managing Director) from KHT said:  “We are continually seeking new opportunities to enhance our service offering.  In recent months we have assessed the current pension arrangements on the back of discussions with a number of third party providers in this field.  In this instance, the key driver for a number of clients is the ability to top up their existing pension fund in a tax efficient manner.”

He continued: “We are pleased to be working with our experienced and trusted industry professional partners at Optimus and KCS in order to ensure the accurate implementation of the scheme and that the appropriate levels of expertise are available for existing and potential clients wishing to avail themselves of the many benefits the scheme offers them for their retirement.”

Mark Schofield, Managing Director of the Optimus Group commented on the partnership; “We have been working with Knox for a number of months in developing this venture. Knox, like ourselves understands that the use of an Enhanced Pension Scheme represents a powerful combination of tax effectiveness, flexibility, security and operational ease for property based retirement savings and we look forward to assisting their client base now and into the future”

Read more about KCS.