Welcome to the Australian Expatriate Superannuation Fund
Australia’s NUMBER ONE and ONLY Retail Super Fund for UK Pension Transfers!
Our job is to make your pension transfer to Australia as seamless as possible, offering guidance to prevent unnecessary tax charges or penalties. Additionally, we collaborate closely with a network of trusted financial advisers. Should you need financial advice, we can introduce you to one of our partners to ensure you receive the full support you need.
Benefits
SEEMLESS TRANSFER PROCESS
STRATEGIC WEALTH PLANNING
INVESTMENT OPTIONS AVAILABLE IN MULTI-CURRENCY
MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNT ONLINE
Transferring your UK pension to Australia with AESF is a straightforward process and a simpler alternative to a Self-Managed Super Fund.
Check your eligibility to see if your UK pension qualifies for transfer – it takes less than 60 seconds.
Reviews
Peter Duxbury
If you are planning to move your overseas pension to Australia, then I would strongly recommend that your first contact should be the Australian Expatriate Superannuation Fund, and this company is also known as IVCM.
IVCM are extremely familiar with all of the complexities of Pension Funds Transfer, and they can guide you every step of the way. All of the staff at IVCM are courteous and extremely willing to provide solutions within the transfer of your Superannuation Pension Funds to Australia. For me, dealing with IVCM was a most pleasant experience from the beginning to the end.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish IVCM every success in the future.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
J Gignat
The team was very responsive and the whole process was faster than I expected. I am extremely happy I could transfer my UK pension to Australia in such a simple and efficient manner. I will definitely recommend IVCM to other people I know who want to repatriate their UK pension.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
B Hearty
Great service and very helpful.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
P Falconer
To do anything between countries is daunting but IVCM made it as easy as possible Katrina was excellent and kept me in the loop and the weekly information sheet was also a great idea and kept me well informed.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
M York
I found the process to be very efficient, the team always on top of each stage of the process and our thanks to David Johnstone for always being available to answer any questions along the way.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
P Townsend
Our dealings with some firms in recent years have been difficult, frustrating and 'cold' ... so finding someone who is the exact opposite was as surprising and very refreshing.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
N Bowes
This has been a good experience in general, Darren has been very informative and responded quickly with details and answers to any questions we asked which there were a few.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
M Page
Darren has been excellent at helping me navigate the complexities of moving monies from a UK fund to the fund in Australia. He has been extremely patient, has explained things clearly and been very responsive. Thank you.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
N Bowes
It is extremely difficult to transfer a UK Pension to Australia and not to fall into any traps or hidden costs, all costs were communicated and very transparent on the IVCM documentation. Everything that was needed was easily at hand with the web site simple to navigate and get the information or forms required very quickly. Thank you to Darren, David and the girls at IVCM.
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
I Thacker
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
Q Lauder
Overall experience with IVCM
Recommending IVCM to another person
Process of transferring your UK Pension to Australia
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the charges for transferring my UK Pension to Australia?
The charges we would apply for administering the transfer of your UK pension to our Australian Expatriate Superannuation fund would be:
Establishment (Set up) Fee – $595
Transfer in Fee – $195 per transfer
A full list of the Fees and charges can be found in our Product Disclosure Statement and Member Guide. You can also see a full summary of our fees here.
Some UK Pension providers do impose a charge upon transferring your funds out of their scheme and so this is a point you should always check.
Do I need a Financial Adviser to transfer my UK Pension to Australia?
We would always recommend that you seek financial advice if you are unsure of the implications involved with transferring a pension. However, in some cases, you may be able to transfer your UK pension without the involvement of a Financial Adviser. This would depend on a few scenarios.
Firstly, it would be compulsory to involve a Financial Adviser where you are transferring a UK Defined Benefit Pension (i.e. Final Salary) with a value greater than £30,000. Due to the nature of these plans and the guarantees they hold, it is a regulatory requirement from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to obtain a Transfer Value Analysis (TVAS) report from a UK Qualified Financial Adviser. Your UK scheme would not allow funds to be transferred out of the scheme without this report.
If you are transferring a standard UK Personal Pension, you may do this yourself but we would not recommend this unless you are comfortable with the transfer process and you have a firm knowledge of the investment markets. For many people, their pension is their largest asset for providing income when they retire so it’s important to ensure its managed correctly and the correct decisions are made, tailored to your financial circumstances and investment objectives.
What type of UK Pension can I transfer to Australia?
You may transfer the following types of UK pension arrangements to an Australian QROPS:
- An Occupational Pension Scheme – A pension offered by your employer, typically a Group Personal Pension.
- A Defined Benefit Scheme – These are schemes offered by your employer which offer a guaranteed benefit in retirement. Also known as Final Salary Schemes.
- A Defined Contribution Scheme – These are Personal or Group Personal Pension Plans. A Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) is a Defined Contribution Scheme.
- A Small Self Administered Scheme (SSAS) – This is also a Defined Contribution Scheme, however, the set-up of them is a bit more complex.
The following types of UK Pensions are not permitted to transfer:
- UK State Pension
- Unfunded Civil Service Pensions which include NHS, Teachers, Fire Fighters, Police and Armed Forces.
Do I pay tax on my Pension Transfer to Australia?
When transferring your UK Pension to Australia, you may be subject to a tax charge upon transfer. Tax is based on the investment growth achieved within your UK pension plan, from the date you became an Australian resident, to the date you transferred your UK pension into Australia. It is the growth achieved during this period which would be subject to tax.
If transferring to our Australian Expatriate Superannuation Fund, then you can opt for the tax to be charged at a fixed concessional rate of 15% and we would pay this to the Australian Tax Office, on your behalf, once we receive the transfer of your UK funds.
Overseas pension transfers are classed as ‘non-concessional’ contributions and you are permitted to transfer up to $110,000 plus investment growth, without an excess contribution charge of 45% being applied. In year one, you can bring forward to years of allowance meaning that the initial transfer allowance is $330,000.
What is a QROPS?
QROPS stands for ‘Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme’. A QROPS is an HMRC registered pension scheme which can accept a transfer of UK pension funds.
In order for an overseas scheme to qualify for ‘QROPS status’, it must meet certain strict criteria set by HMRC. If you transfer your pension to a plan that is not a registered QROPS, you will face a significant penalty so be sure to check that the pension scheme you are intending on transferring to is listed on the HMRC ROPS list.
A full QROPS approved list of schemes can be found here.
If you set up a Self Managed Super Fund, you can apply to HMRC for QROPS registration in order for your fund to accept a transfer of your UK Pension monies but this is a complex and time-consuming process. Alternatively, you can transfer your UK Pension to our Australian Expatriate Superannuation Fund which is Australia’s ONLY Retail Superannuation that is registered with HMRC as a QROPS. This would mean that you can completely avoid the complex registration process as this is all in place with our fund.
I am under the age of 55, Can I transfer my UK pension to Australia?
Under current rules you cannot transfer your UK Pension to a QROPS Super Fund until you age 55. The reason being is that in Australia you are permitted, under certain circumstances, to withdraw funds before age 55 which goes against UK law.