Premiere investment bonds and Premiere Europe

Here’s everything you need to know about our Premiere accounts ­– key features, how they work, helpful links, guides and documents.

To get a Premiere account, you must be aged between 18 and 89 and have at least £50,000 to invest.

You can choose to set up your Premiere account offshore investment bond on a life assurance or capital redemption basis.

Life assurance

With this type of bond, you can choose to insure the lives of up to six people. The death benefit is paid on the death of the last life assured, unless you choose to close it sooner.

Capital redemption

With this option, there are no lives assured. Instead, the bond continues for a fixed term of 99 years, unless you choose to close it sooner.

Our Premiere accounts can be opened in your sole name or as a joint account. The bond is divided into up to 99,999 separate identical policies – giving you greater flexibility on how you withdraw your money.

You can choose to either cash in all the individual policies or withdraw a small amount from each. Both options have different tax implications, so it’s important to speak to an adviser about which one’s right for you.

Both accounts are offshore bonds, offering a tax-efficient way to invest. With our Premiere Account, your investment will be based in the Isle of Man. With our Premiere Europe Account, your investment will be based in Ireland.

How are they different?

Both Premiere accounts offer the same key features and benefits. The main difference is:

VAT for discretionary fund management

Both accounts have different methods of applying VAT for discretionary fund management services. With the Premiere Account, VAT is applied to the discretionary fund manager’s charges. With the Premiere Europe Account, there’s no VAT to pay on a discretionary fund manager’s charges.

Tax rules depend on individual circumstances and may change. Speak to an adviser, if you need more information on tax.

A wide range of investments

Access an almost unlimited range of investments from around the globe including:

• Unit trusts
• Investment trusts
• Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs)
• Cash deposits

Other benefits:

• A choice of more than 150 discretionary managers
• Use of any of the 40 or so investment platforms we link to
• The flexibility to change your investments at any time

You can also split your investments across different platforms and different discretionary fund managers.

Explore all your investment choices.

A wider choice: our Segregated Portfolio Service

Available through both accounts, the Segregated Portfolio Service offers an even wider range of investments, with direct access to equities and bonds.

Benefits include:

• A wider choice of investments, such as holding equities directly, with greater scope for diversification
• The chance to reduce expenses by direct investing, rather than through funds
• Access to expert stock selection through a discretionary investment manager
• The ability to invest directly into income generating assets, such as gilts and other fixed interest investments

No annual tax charge

Including these types of investments usually means you’d pay a high annual tax charge because the account would be classed by HMRC as a personal portfolio bond.

However, we’ve made sure that our Segregated Portfolio Service is not treated as a personal portfolio bond, so you won’t need to pay this annual tax charge.

Explore our Segregated Portfolio Service 

What are the risks?

As with any investment, the value can go down as well as up so you might get back less than you invest. Different investments have different levels of risk and past performance is no guide to future performance.

All withdrawals are free of charge.

Regular withdrawals

You can set up regular withdrawals every month, quarter, half-yearly or yearly. The minimum amount you can withdraw is £50. There’s no maximum amount as long as you keep £5,000 invested.

One-off withdrawals      

You can cash in (surrender) part of your investment at any time. The minimum amount you can withdraw is £200. There’s no maximum amount, as long as you keep £5,000 invested.

5% tax-deferred withdrawal allowance

If you pay tax in the UK, you can withdraw up to 5% of your original investment each year without incurring any immediate tax liability on it. Payments made to your adviser may be included in this allowance.

If you don’t withdraw the full 5%, the remaining allowance can be carried over into the next year. You can do this until you’ve withdrawn 100% of your original investment.

Cashing in

You can cash in your investment in full, at any time. Although you should always speak to an adviser to discuss any tax implications.

Initial set-up charge

This is the charge for setting up the investment. There are three different ways you can pay this charge. We can take:

• 1.5% of your original investment
• 0.089% every quarter for five years (Premiere Account only)
• A quarterly fee, based on the value of the original investment (see table below)

Ongoing administration charge

We charge a quarterly administration charge for looking after the investment. See charges and fees

Investment charges

Different types of investments have different charges, so these will depend on the investments you choose.

If you decide to nominate a fund adviser or use a platform then your adviser will let you know what the charges will be for these services.

Paying your adviser

If you want us to pay your adviser, we offer two options:

• We can deduct the adviser charge from your investment before, or after the money is invested
• We can pay your adviser on a quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis

You can pay your adviser a set amount or a percentage of the investment’s value.

The charges for our Premiere accounts depend on how your account is set-up. You’ll find details of the charges on your personal product illustration, which can be sent to your adviser.

Investment growth

Growth on your investment is tax-efficient, however, tax rules depend on the type of investment and may change.

It’s important to remember that the value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. The way funds have performed in the past is no guide to future performance.

Inheritance tax

If your bond isn’t in a trust, there may be inheritance tax to pay when you die. By placing your investment in a trust, there may be less inheritance tax to pay, or none at all.

Tax rules depend on individual circumstances and may change. Speak to an adviser, if you need more information on tax.

Explore our trusts and see how they could help you pass on your wealth in a tax-efficient way. 

You can use a trust with your Premiere account offshore investment bond. This could reduce the amount of inheritance tax that needs to be paid when you die.

Both of our Premiere accounts can be used with the following trusts:

• Discounted Gift Trust
• Gift and Loan Trust
• Gift Trust
• Probate Trust
• Excluded Property Trust

Trusts explained. Find out more about the types of trust we offer and how they could help you pass on your wealth in a tax-efficient way. 

Tax rules depend on individual circumstances and may change. Speak to an adviser, if you need more information on tax.