QROPS and UK Pension Transfer Advice. The public must check out the experience, qualifications and past employers before engaging someone to provide advice. Here are some pointers to help.

1. Taking Advice
1. The internet is full of financial advisers offering transfer advice to those that have UK
pension schemes. Many advisers claim to be QROPS or UK Pension Transfer
Specialists.
2. How can the public work out which advisers have a suitable level of expertise if all the
advisers claim to be experts? There are some advisers that have no pension
qualifications or relevant experience in dealing with UK pensions.
3. While a knowledge of non-UK jurisdictions and foreign tax rules is essential, the
starting point for any advice is a proper understanding of the UK pension.
a. The FCA ( Financial Conduct Authority ) in the UK insists on the following
pensions’ qualifications for all UK advisers that deal with pension transfers.
Non-UK clients should expect the same•
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G60 or AF3- ( Chartered Insurance Institute )
Fellow/Associate of the Faculty of Actuaries
Pensions paper of Professional Investment Certificate (IFS)
Fellow/Associate of the Pensions Management Institute
The public should check that an adviser has one of the above qualifications and, if not, ask to
be referred to such an adviser.
b. Will the adviser be prepared to offer the clients a choice of a time based fee or
commission? Bear in mind that commission is only payable once an
investment is made and sometimes the most appropriate advice may be to
leave the UK pension where it is.
c. Is the adviser currently a member, by qualification, of a professional institute
and signed up to the institute’s code of conduct and commitment to continued
professional development?
d. References from clients may be fine to an extent, but often problems appear
later on. Take references from professional independent referees and previous
employers
e. What experience does the adviser have? Due to the complexity of pension
transfers, it should be expected that the adviser has several years’ experience
or, if not, that the firm that supervises the advice has appropriately experienced
staff in place.
4. Concerns
A large number of advisers that claim to be experts have no relevant UK pension
qualifications, have no relevant working experience with UK pensions and often have no
qualifications at all. Some advisers make unfounded claims about their qualifications, use
titles that they are not permitted to use and falsify their pasts and experience.

2. a. Corporate membership of an institute such as The Chartered Insurance Institute
(CII) or The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI) does not
refer to a qualification. Some firms proudly display this membership, it does
not always mean that the advisers are all qualified.
b. Titles such as FPC or CISI do not exist. The CII provide the public with a link
to check on the membership status of the CII advisers. The CII have stated that
the use of titles, without permission, is actionable. The public would need to
contact the CISI to check membership. Please note, the CISI do not offer
pension qualifications.
http://www.cii.co.uk/web/app/membersearch/MemberSearch.aspx
“Qualified” means the following; CertPFS, DipPFS, APFS/FPFS – all members signed up to
a code of ethics to treat customers fairly and a commitment to continous professional
development.
Ordinary/Student only membership is open to members of the public, there are no exam
requirements for membership. CII ( Award)/FAIQ are basic introductory qualifications and
are not subject to the requirements of qualified members.
5. Conclusion
The public need to check the education and experience of the adviser before engaging. There
is a considerable amount of misinformation that leaves the public open to poor advice.
Regulation and local knowledge also needs to be checked, in addition to the UK pensions’
qualifications and experience ( please check this on the relevant tabs on this website).
Christopher Lean is an associate of the Personal Finance Society and an IFA
at Opes Fidelio, the new overseas network arm of UK wealth manager Aisa.