Because they will be pan-European, PEPPs are likely to be portable from country to country and will deliver standardised features across the board, regardless of the location in which they were sold. It is also thought they will include flexibility for savers, allowing them to switch providers with relative ease.
Bulgaria currently holds the European Council presidency and the country’s minister for finance, Vladislav Goranov, recently told press that PEPPs will “promote competition amongst pension providers, enabling them to sell pension products outside their national markets and giving savers more choice over how and where to place their savings.”
Draft regulation documents suggest that after a minimum period of five years from the end of the contract savers would be able to switch providers (or five years from the most recent provider switch). Some providers may even allow such changes more frequently and fees for provider changes would be capped.
However, in order to become an expat pensions reality, the regulations must first be approved by European Parliament.
Watch this space.
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Under new plans proposed by the Government, and included in Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement, British expatriates with offshore pensions will face a higher income tax rate.