Products
Through our association with Offshore Investment Brokers, we are able to provide a wide range of offshore investment products through many different international product providers.
The types of products that we provide are:
International Platform
Based in the Isle of Man, the direct investment platform provides investors the ability to access over 80,000 different managed funds, ETF’s, direct shares and Structured Notes.
It is a very flexible product in that there is no minimum investment amount, there is no lock-in period and you can access your money at anytime without incurring a penalty.
Being a direct platform, it therefore doesn’t carry the additional Life Insurance coverage (usually 101% of the policy value) that Offshore Portfolio Bonds provide. This is a very straightforward, easy to understand and cost effective structure for an offshore portfolio
Offshore Portfolio Bonds
These are a very common lump sum products with many of the different Life Companies providing this type of product. These Life Companies will be established in tax friendly financial centers such as the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Mauritius, British Virgin Islands or Cayman Islands. We will predominately use providers based in the Isle of Man.
As with International Platforms, clients have access to a very wide range of managed funds, ETF’s, direct shares and Structured Notes. The structure of an Offshore Portfolio Bond is a little more complex in that it is a Life Policy so has a Life Insurance element to the policy. In the event of death, they will pay 101% of the net value of the policy to the nominated beneficiary.
The charging structure is a little more complex too in that generally a policy fee is charge, which is based on the invested amount and is payable for a set establishment period (5, 8 or 10 years). Clients are also restricted on how much they can withdraw within these initial years (generally up to 75%) and if they wish to fully surrender prior to the establishment period, a surrender penalty would be applicable.
However, while they can be slightly more expensive and a little less flexible, with the Life Assurance ‘wrapped’ around the policy, they can provide significant tax and estate planning opportunities for expats while offshore and when they relocate back to their home countries.
Offshore Savings Plans
Once again, a very common & popular product that has been promoted to expats that are issued by the same companies that provide the offshore portfolio bonds.
These are contractual policies where the client agrees to invest a set amount of money on a regular basis (normally monthly) for a set period that is determined at commencement (5 – 25 years). The Life Companies that issue these products will offer financial incentives to encourage clients to set longer terms. This is generally in the form of enhanced allocations (i.e. 104% allocation of each contribution) or loyalty/bonus allocation at maturity.
However, while I do strongly believe in the strategy for investors to look at saving on a regular basis, I am personally NOT a fan of these types of structures as they don’t offer the same flexibility as that offered by a direct platform. The policy fee structure is also very complex and (in my personal opinion) quite expensive…… even after taking into consideration the financial incentives from the Life Companies. The policy cost will increase further if you reduce or stop paying the regular contributions. Plus, there would be a significant early surrender fee if cashed out prior to the maturity date.
With the above being said, if a contractual offshore savings plan is the required product for a specific need, I would encourage a term of no longer than 10 years.
Further Reading: A Regular Savings Plan… or A Savings Trap
Structured Notes
While Structured Notes are not our core investments (we prefer to use daily traded managed funds, ETF’s & direct shares), we understand and acknowledge that there is a demand for such products, especially in the Offshore market.
These products can provide additional diversification and risk management for portfolios.
We will only have arrangements with providers that are regulated and adhere to our strict sustainable and ethical business management concept.
RECEIVE A MINIMUM 1% COMMISSION REBATE CREDIT FOR EACH OF THE NOTES ISSUED BELOW**
>> MORE INFORMATION ON STRUCTURED NOTES HERE <<
Offshore International Bank Accounts
We are in the process of finalizing an agreement with an Offshore Banking Group to offer international bank accounts that are domiciled in the Isle of Man. There will be multiple currencies including USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CHF, AUD, NZD, HKD, SGD, NOK, SEK & ZAR.
They will also provide lending services for expats which will include Secured Personal Loans, UK Property Lending and Portfolio Bond Lending (using an Offshore Portfolio Bond as security to access cash or used to leverage the portfolio for additional investment).