Everything you need to know about moving to NZ

UK pension providers vary widely in the speed of their response to transfer enquiries, and even in the methods they are willing to use to transfer funds - but most transfers take around three months.

Our fastest ever was three weeks, and our slowest was nine months. We do our best to expedite the process, couriering documents to the UK, and calling to confirm receipt of documents and for frequent progress reports.

The process for a pension transfer is:

• Gather up your fund details, and contact us to get a full assessment of your UK retirement funds – we will not recommend that you transfer them unless it is in your best interests, which it may not be for some Final Salary schemes. We can also advise you on the best way to minimise your exposure to exchange rate fluctuations.
• We will request transfer values from your UK pension providers, along with the relevant Overseas Pension Transfer forms.
• We will review these with you, then fill in the transfer forms to request the transfer.
• At this stage we will also set you up with an account with a New Zealand superannuation fund manager, and you can start discussing the structure of your investment portfolio with them.
• Once the funds have been transferred to New Zealand, we invest them with your NZ superannuation fund.
• They will contact you to review your investments every 6 months. After you have been our of the UK for 5 full tax years, and subject to the minimum investment period specified by the superannuation fund, you can unlock a portion of your funds.

The paperwork you generally need to proceed with a transfer is:

• Details of your UK pension funds.
• Your UK National Insurance number.
• Your P45 or some form of confirmation of the date of your departure from the UK.
• The overseas transfer forms from your UK pension providers.
• A photocopy of your photo ID – a passport or driving licence.