Thousands of Kiwis return from Europe without a plan for the pension savings they’ve left abroad. According to the Ministry of Social Development, nearly 100,000 New Zealanders receiving Superannuation also draw overseas pensions from nearly 70 countries, totalling over NZ$501 million in 2022 - and those are just the ones already claimed. The UK is most common, followed by Australia and the Netherlands.
Some Kiwis presume that their old pension is untraceable and too hard to access. Larger financial services firms may not bother trying to look, not having the specialist knowledge required.
That’s where i-Select’s niche expertise comes in.
Against this backdrop, i-Select has been quietly sitting in this space for years. It has tracked down and moved thousands of pension funds to New Zealand from the UK, Ireland, Belgium and other countries.
“Pension transfers is all we do, and we’re very good at it!” says Robyn Galletly, administration manager at i-Select.
Just recently, i-Select moved some substantial funds over from Belgium and Ireland. Galletly notes that the Belgian transfer involved navigating complex legal, regulatory and administrative requirements - not to mention paperwork entirely in a foreign language. Each process took around four months.
The clients were surprised that i-Select was able to recover a pension from Belgium, and complete an Irish pension transfer.
“We’re happy to take on any pension portability challenge that comes our way”, Galletly said. “We’re flexible and adaptable with what we can do.”
If you happen to remember a few years of overseas work, get in touch. With an employer name and a letter of authority, i-Select can begin the process of tracking down a lost or forgotten pension.
Every stage is handled for you, from gathering initial information through to the funds arriving in New Zealand.
Galletly says the key misconception is that only UK funds can be easily transferred to New Zealand, but this is far from the truth.
These successes show that i-Select’s reach is not limited to UK pension transfers - we’re able to handle cross-border wealth challenges in a wide range of countries.
“There is more opportunity out there,” she says. “It can start with a client saying “I worked in this country for a few years, do you think I might have a pension?”. “You may end up having some money that you didn’t know you had.”
If you suspect you might have an overseas pension, here’s how i-Select can assist:
Importantly, all these steps are managed end-to-end by us — you don’t need to coordinate with foreign administrators or agencies yourself. Click on ‘Contact Us’ above to get in contact and start your process.