Zurich Vista
Savings Plan

The Zurich International Vista Savings Plan from Zurich International Life Limited is often recommended to expats by international financial advisers. 

It's an International Life Assurance Scheme (ILAS).

If you have a Zurich Vista and would like to make sure it's the most appropriate solution for you, you can have a appraisal with a chartered financial adviser.

Products like the Vista are often described as a flexible and effective solution for accumulating capital, and long term savings:

ZIL’s range of funds is one of the widest in its sector, with well in excess of 100 funds available to Vista.

Vista’s investment proposition comprises a number of different fund ranges:

Low risk funds - these are mainly cash and cash-equivalent funds. But with a 0.75% fee, it is unlikely that the funds will generate sufficient return to cover their fees nowadays, because of low interest rates.

Managed funds - these are funds that are run for ZIL by external fund managers. These are categorised as Defensive, Cautious, Blue-chip, Performance or Adventurous.They have a high management charge of 1.5% per year.

Mirror funds - these are structures set up by life insurance companies that allow investors to access another company’s unit trust through their life insurance policies. While this offers the investor a broad range of investment opportunities, these mirror funds are typically expensive, and charges may be hidden or camouflaged and complex.

The low risk funds available include money market funds, guaranteed accumulation (effectively deposit administration) funds and the dynamic growth funds. Annual management charges are 0.5% for guaranteed accumulation, 0.75% for money market, and 1.8% for dynamic growth.

Using calculations from an offshore projection suite, it is possible to see how Zurich Vista’s charges compare against other similar ILAS products when it comes to projected maturity values. This table shows the results for one example - a 15-year savings plan with a monthly premium of £300.

Allocation rates:

The initial contribution period is 18 months.

The surrender value of your policy is nothing/zero until the 18 months are up.

Paid-up penalties:

A paid-up plan is a plan into which you've stopped paying premiums, but the plan has not yet been surrendered.

In the first 18 months, there is no surrender penalty, but the paid up value is nil - which is just semantics.

Basically, you get nothing back if you cancel your policy within the first 18 months. 

Thereafter the plan can be made paid-up for a period of up to 3 years without any penalty.

However...charges continue to apply throughout - which will erode the surrender value. 

If the paid-up period extends beyond 3 years a surrender penalty then applies.

Initial units (those acquired during the first 18 months) continue to have no surrender value unless the policy reaches its full term - this means, unless you continue with your plan to its term you effectively lose your first 18 months' premiums.

Fund switching is free (unlimited).

Zurich Vista is recommended by traditional direct salespeople (IFAs) as an ideal savings product for expats who want to save to reach a long-term financial goal. 

It can also be white labelled (that is: it is a product that other financial institutions can sell with their own logo on, their own product literature relating to the product etc.) 

Zurich Vista is often sold by banks as well. 

If your policy is surrendered early you may get back substantially less than you actually invested, and in the first 18 months you will get nothing back.

As it is a unit linked regular savings plan, Zurich Vista is susceptible to market risks.

Effective management of the investment strategy and expert guidance of an investment adviser may add considerable mileage to the growth in fund values of the plan.

It is not intended as a short-term plan.  

You should not invest in such a plan if you may need the money for short-term financial goals.

You should not commit to saving a high monthly premium if you are unsure whether you will maintain that level of premium for the duration of the plan, as fees will depend on your initially agreed premium.

You should not commit to saving for a term longer than you realistically expect to be able to save for.

These all sound fairly obvious - but you'll be astounded at some of the premiums and terms people are persuaded to sign up for...often to their detriment.

This guide aims to provide general information on the financial product set out above.  It is not intended as personal advice but as a short and simplified summary of a complex subject, and so please do not make any decisions based solely on the contents of this guide in isolation.  

Whether or not a particular investment is appropriate for you will depend on many factors, including your individual needs, circumstances, approach to risk, and capacity for loss.

For a personalised analysis of your Zurich Vista request for a X-Ray Review™ - it will highlight if you can cut costs, improve your returns and how to make the very most of your savings and investments.