Increasing numbers of British pre-retirees and pensioners are transferring their UK pension funds overseas in order to ‘safeguard’ them from government and Bank of England (BoE) policies according to the deVere Group.

The independent advisory firm said that it transferred 35 per cent more UK pensions into HMRC-recognised Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) during 2012 compared to the previous year.

The firm’s chief Nigel Green said: “We attribute this significant increase to the mounting public perception that the government, which people believe is constantly changing the rules on pensions, cannot be trusted with them.

“As such, increasingly our British expat - or soon-to-be expat - clients tell us that they want to move the money that they have prudently put aside for their retirement out of the UK in order to safeguard it from the government which is quietly and not-so-quietly plundering pension pots in the form of scrapping age-related benefits, and with the plans to cut pension tax-breaks and the tax-free allowance, amongst other things.”

Green also argued that the Bank of England’s quantitative easing programme has helped to “push annuity levels to record lows”. A QROPS on the other hand does not force the individual to buy an annuity.

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