Former Smartshares chief and current Betashares NZ executive director, Hugh Stevens, has emerged as the new owner of UK pension transfer outfit, i-Select.
In a deal confirmed on Thursday night, the Stevens-owned vehicle, ARG, purchased i-Select for an undisclosed sum.
Founded by Canterbury-based account, Chris Heffernan, in 2006, i-Select manages about $340 million across its two main qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS).
The i-Select schemes allow members to invest in a wide array of underlying investments in conjunction with financial advisers.
Stevens takes over as chief executive officer of the firm while incumbent, Heffernan, remains as senior technical adviser. The buyout also sees Stevens reunite with an old BNP Paribas Securities Services NZ colleague, Doug Cameron, who has emerged as director at i-Select.
Cameron replaced Stevens as BNP Paribas NZ country head in 2014, resigning last year.
“We will continue to work alongside financial advisers and their clients, ensuring the pension transfer process and ongoing investment management are simple, cost-effective, tax-efficient and flexible,” Stevens said in a statement. “Our goal is to make i-Select the obvious choice for advisers seeking a QROPS pension transfer solution for their clients.”
The pension transfer market remains a lucrative business in NZ despite tough new regulations introduced in the UK several years ago.
Heffernan said the new ownership arrangement would allow the group to expand its range of “pension solutions”.
“Our new structure opens up exciting avenues for growth and allows us to tackle a wider range of pension transfer challenges faced by our clients,” he said in the release.
The UK tax authority has approved about a dozen NZ-based QROPS retail schemes with the main players including Britannia, the AMP-owned NZ Retirement Trust, MAS, Craigs Investment Partners and SuperLife. NZ Funds, Booster and the Lifetime-owned Garrison Bridge also operate QROPS schemes.
The i-Select scheme uses FNZ, Hobson Wealth and Apex for custody and Public Trust as supervisor.
Stevens took on the part-time Betashares NZ role last month after quitting the NZX-owned Smartshares in March.