Offshore/expatriate issues

Scope of advice

IAS has considerable expertise in all areas of financial planning for UK individuals who are based abroad for a period. Generally this will entail advice on planning a suitable investment strategy and all of the general principles outlined under Investment and Retirement Planning apply in exactly the same way as for any UK based investor.

Indeed many expatriate individuals assume because they are abroad for a period there are special offshore investments which should feature in all aspects of their future investment and retirement planning and the tax treatment of investments should be the driving force for all investment decisions. This in our view should not be the case and many of the offshore investment/pension products recommended to expatriates offer very poor value for money and in many cases are wholly unsuitable compared to conventional UK based investments. Some of these issues are covered in our Case Study 5 UK expatriate issues.

Both on leaving the UK and prior to the individual returning there will be a number of personal financial planning issues which arise and we will guide the individual through all the key areas ensuring sensible investment and tax planning decisions are made.