Recognised overseas pension provider STM Group has announced an increase in uptake of its core Rops product.
This follows an announcement on 13 July this year that the provider was to waive the initial establishment fee for its core Rops product for a six-month period.
At that time, the announcement explained the group had taken the decision to drive new business growth.
Prior to this, the average establishment fee for the Rops product was about £800.
New business applications for Rops in July represent the highest month of applications over the last 12 months, and a 75 per cent uplift on the average number of applications received in the first four months of the year, according to STM Group.
Business numbers for Rops in July saw a 28 per cent increase over those of June, which was a 15 per cent increase over May’s figures.
Additionally, the firm’s management have stated there is an uplift in business from existing intermediaries as well as new intermediaries, however added it was too early to know whether this would continue in future months.
The STM Malta Pension Contract Plan is now listed on HM Revenue & Custom’s Rops list and is available to intermediaries and clients.
Before this listing, all STM schemes were trust based, however the firm has made the move into contract based pensions as its management are aware that in civil law countries in Europe trusts are not a familiar concept.
Alan Kentish, interim chief executive of STM Greoup, said: “The contract0based Rops plan is yet another tool in our tool box, and whilst relatively niche in that it is designed for the European civil law countries, it is expected to further increase the number of cases of new business per annum.
“The above, in conjunction with other on-going initiatives referred to in the 13 July 2016 update, is expected to help build a robust recurring revenue stream and deliver long term shareholder value.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com