STM Group launches new pension products for Australia and Europe

Cross-border financial services provider STM Group announced the launch of its Australian, superannuation qualifying, recognised overseas pension scheme based out of Gibraltar on Monday.

The AIM-traded company had previously identified Australia as a target market and, it “is pleased” to have executed on the first phase of its pension solution growth strategy in Australia.

“It is approaching two years since HMRC removed all Australian schemes from the QROPS list and, during the intervening period, the STM product development team have worked closely with Australian legal and tax specialists to develop a robust yet flexible retail solution,” STM’s board said in a statement.

The STM Gibraltar (AUS) Superannuation Scheme is included on the HMRC QROPS list, and has also been recognised by the Australian Tax Office as a foreign superannuation scheme.

STM said the scheme is available to clients worldwide and offers the advantages of a standard QROPS with the additional benefit of certainty of tax treatment for people resident, or likely to become so, in Australia.

Additionally, the company announced the launch of its STM Malta Pension Contract Plan, which it said has been created to target predominantly civil law countries in Europe where trusts are not such a familiar concept.

Both the foreign superannuation scheme and the contract-based plan complement STM's existing international pension product range, the board added.

“Our ambition to be recognised as the leading provider of international retirement solutions is greatly strengthened in the market by the group's product and business development activities,” said CEO Alan Kentish.

“We are constantly reviewing both product and regional options to identify gaps in the market to proactively meet client demand.”

“With 1.3 million British expats already in Australia, we expect demand from Australian resident expats to be high. It is also important to bear in mind that the product is available worldwide and with as many as 50,000 UK nationals emigrating every year, and not forgetting the returning Australians, there is likely to be significant interest from those who are not yet Australian resident.”