<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=3003101069777853&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

REVIEW SUMMARY

Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond

Quilter International

Quilter International (formerly known as Old Mutual International) is one of the leading providers of advice, investments and wealth management both in the UK and internationally.

Quilter International is a part of Quilter plc and manages around £107.4 billion of investments (as at 30th June 2020). Quilter plc is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

The Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond (ERB)

The Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond is a capital redemption contract with a 99-year fixed term. It will continue until the end of the term unless encashed earlier.

Our Verdict
A Closer Look
FAQs
Customer Reviews

Many international investors find managing a portfolio of funds an administrative burden.

With the International Executive Redemption Bond, Quilter International takes care of this by establishing a portfolio of Quilter International funds within the account and managing any paperwork on your behalf.

Normally, if a particular investment is underperforming, then changing strategy or fund manager may mean you suffer not only exit penalties and new initial charges on a new investment, but also a possible tax liability as well.

By choosing an Executive Redemption Bond, you potentially avoid this problem.

The ERB bond is issued in the form of a single policy or a number of separate polices known as a “cluster of polices”.

The initial charging term is fixed (based upon the commission and charging structure agreed) at the time of the policy activation and this cannot be varied or waived; therefore, early encashment of the policy results in a “surrender charge” or “early withdrawal charge”.

Learn more from our deep dive into Quilter International's Executive Redemption Bond...

The Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond (ERB) Key Features:

  • The Executive Redemption Bond is a capital redemption contract with a 99-year fixed term.
  • It continues until the end of the term unless cashed in earlier.
  • At the end of the term, the bond has a guaranteed value of at least twice the premium amount you have paid (less any withdrawals or surrenders).

Open Architecture:

The Executive Redemption Bond provides flexibility and freedom of choice, through access to a wide range of investment asset types.

This wide investment choice is known as open architecture. It enables you to invest in mutual funds, stocks and shares, fixed-interest securities, multi-currency deposits, hedge funds, structured notes, exchange-traded funds and other alternative investment, which means you can customise your portfolio precisely to your individual needs and preferences, without having to compromise in order to fit in with pre-set rules and parameters.

Minimums:

Lump sum minimum of £50,000.

You can make additional lump-sum payments into your policy at any time with a minimum of £2,500. However you will pay any initial fund charges on all contributions.

Currency:

The Quilter International (formerly known as Old Mutual International) Executive Redemption Bond can be set up in 1 of 3 currencies including Pound sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), United States dollar (USD).

Eligibility:

The Executive Redemption Bond is provided by Quilter International Isle of Man Limited (Quilter International).

It is available to most international investors outside of the main regulated territories such as the UK, the USA and Australia.

Learn more from our deep dive into Quilter International's Executive Redemption Bond...

Choosing an external custodian:

The structure of a bond means that you need a custodian to hold, on Quilter International’s behalf, the assets that you decide to link to your bond.

You can choose your own custodian, which is likely to be the financial institution you currently have a relationship with and who are advising you.

If you don’t have your own custodian, then Quilter International will use its own appointed custodian to play this important role for you.

Charges:

This would depend on the type of plan you take out from Quilter International as they offer different charging structures largely linked to the amount of commission or earnings being taken by the third party salesman or adviser. They should (but this may not always be the case) provide you with a charges schedule, which will detail:

  • The costs Quilter International levy for setting up and managing your bond
  • The administrative costs of the fund managers
  • Fees charged by your financial adviser.

Early Surrender:

A full encashment will result in exit penalties being applied in the early years through surrender charges linked to the term of the policy. The amount of this charge reflects the cost of Quilter International's set up fee, including any payments (such as commission) made by Quilter International to your financial adviser.

Quilter International has a great reputation but, in the pursuit of offering flexibility of charging structure to all types of advisers they have created a product that has the same name but completely different costs.

Those costs are dictated by the adviser and we have seen evidence to suggest that some advisers and adviser companies take the maximum commissions.

Learn more from our deep dive into Quilter International's Executive Redemption Bond...

Additionally, here's a free guide that can help you achieve better results. In this guide, you'll learn:

  • Academic evidence only shared with a select few firms across the world
  • A real-life example of why you should never try to outguess the market
  • Why a fund's past performance is not enough to predict future returns
  • Why you need to focus on what you can control and why this leads to a better investment experience
  • Why you should accept the markets for what they are
  • What can impact behaviour and make people seek instant gratification

New call-to-action

 

The Pros

> Popular expat investment plan
> Preferred choice of expat financial advisers
> Strong parent company brand

The Cons

> High risk of hidden commission
> Potentially very inflexible
> Commonly mis-used
What are the payment and withdrawal terms on Quilter International's Executive Redemption Bond?

Payments in:

• Make one initial investment of at least £50,000/US$75,000/75,000, or the equivalent in another currency.

• Add in extra amounts of at least £2,500/US$3,750/3,750 (or currency equivalent)*.

• No fixed term.

These minimum amounts may increase in the future, so please check the latest figures with your financial adviser.

Payments out:

One-off or regular withdrawals, which will be free of charge as long as you leave in a surrender value of £10,000/US$15,000/15,000 (or another currency equivalent), or at least 25% of your total investment, whichever is higher.

What happens on the death of a policyholder?

The treatment of your policy when a death occurs depends on whether there are surviving policyholders.

If a policyholder has died and at least one policyholder is still alive, the bond will continue and will automatically transfer to the surviving policyholder(s).

If the last policyholder has died, the bond will continue until the end of the 99-year term. Ownership of the bond will pass to one of the following parties:

• If there is a nominated beneficiary, ownership will be transferred to them.

• If the bond is subject to a trust, then the bond is still owned by the trust and a trustee must be appointed as a policyholder.

• In all other cases, ownership will be transferred to the legal personal representatives of the deceased policyholder’s estate. They can then choose whether to:

– keep the bond and appoint a beneficiary to become the policyholder by executing a 
deed of assignment,

or

– encash the bond to pay the proceeds to your estate’s beneficiaries.

A close shave as I avoided paying the commission.

Reading this review - and the expert verdict - I clearly had a close shave. Being as I am from the UK, I made sure I used a fee only adviser - that's made this bond an effective and cost effective solution for me.

I had a close shave though as I was cold called by an IFA who was very pushy to meet - when I found out that he wasn't fee only, I binned off the idea of a meet.

I'm happy - and I know I wasn't badly advised - and my ERB is the right product for me.

My advice is tread carefully though...it's not necessarily the product that's at fault, it's how its sold.

Expert assessment of Quilter International's (formerly known as Old Mutual International) Executive Redemption Bond (ERB)

The Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond is an excellent investment product which stands up very well against the competition, but it is also easily mis-used and is normally available at a much lower cost than you may be aware.

When we compared the charges that fee-based clients would pay, against those working with commission-based advisers – it is clear to see that the latter may pay anywhere from 100-500% more.

These hidden costs also cause a lock-in period of up to 8 years which substantially reduces the flexibility which clients would otherwise benefit from.

When used correctly, the QI Executive Redemption Bond is a market leading product.

Our advice is to incept such a plan only after receiving advice from a fully regulated financial planner and to opt for a cleanly priced option without any form of establishment charge or lock-in period (zero-exit penalties).

If you already have an Executive Redemption Bond from Quilter International, recommend you get a Second Opinion to ensure you are on track to get and keep the life you want.

GET A SECOND OPINION

Learn More About Quilter International

Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond Brochure

Quilter International Executive Redemption Bond Detailed Analysis

Start getting better results in just one phone call

Ready to start the conversation?

We'll call, learn about you and help you decide if we're a good fit. It's that easy.

Get Started