Boniface, who was marketing director and co-owner of the Brooklands International division, has taken with him to Agility some of what had been the Brooklands International QROPS and QNUPS books of business – in particular, all the schemes based in Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
These schemes, which ceased to be QROPS after HM Revenue & Customs delisted them in April, are being rebranded as Agility products, Boniface said.
“All ‘old’ Brooklands Guernsey QROPS are now Agility schemes, and continue as before. Agility does not sell new QROPS, but is fully committed to providing excellent administration and advice on all existing contracts.”
In Guernsey, where almost all the existing QROP schemes have been delisted, and thus are now being administered but not added to, Agility is making use of the services of Confiance, an established pension trustee and administrator, Boniface said.
Noting that “Most existing, delisted QROPS in Guernsey should be left where they are,” Boniface said those clients with “considerable funds” (minimum £350K) in a QROPS, whether it is currently with Agility or another provider, might consider various options, particularly if that client is also aged 55 or over.
Going forward, Agility will focus on marketing QNUPS (qualifying non-UK pension schemes) and non-UK annuities, Boniface said.
Evans, who continues as the majority shareholder and managing director of Brooklands, retains the company’s self invested personal pensions business and administration company, as well as all of its New Zealand QROPS and trust products, and its STM Maltese QROP schemes.
Boniface said he and Evans had decided to end their four-year association “amicably” as it became evident that “we had interests in going after different areas of the market”.
Precipitated by reg change
Evans said Boniface’s departure had been precipitated by HMRC’s change in the regulations covering QROPS, which had left Brooklands’ global strategy “out of line with the international strategy that Keith wished to pursue”.
“The products being operated from Guernsey and Isle of Man, which were affected by the change of regulations did not fit within the core products of Brooklands Pensions – SIPPs and QROPS”.
“We therefore decided that Keith would take these on and we could then concentrate on our core products going forward,” he added.
At Brooklands, Mark Sanderson has assumed the duties formerly handled by Boniface, with the title of communications manager.
Sanderson, who is Chartered Institute of Insurers-certified, has been with Brooklands for two years, where he was previously pensions technical consultant.
