Personal Retirement Bonds

Quest Capital Trustees located in Dublin, Ireland operate Personal Retirement Bonds (PRB) for clients.

What is a PRB?

A Personal Retirement Bond (“PRB”) is a pension arrangement approved by the Revenue Commissioners under the terms of Chapter 1, Part 30, Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

The Quest Self Invested PRB has been designed to facilitate the investment of paid up occupational pensions, occupational pension schemes that are being wound up or existing PRBs. As a self-invested pension it offers you a broad spectrum of investment options into which you can choose from in conjunction with your advisor.

What can my Quest Self Invested PRB invest in?

A few examples of what your Quest PRB can invest in;

• A deposit account
• Share portfolios with a stockbroker
• Managed funds with a life company
• Tracker Bonds
• Private equity
• Direct or syndicated property or
• A combination of any or all of these

What advantages does the Quest Self Invested PRB have over a traditional PRB?

In a number of words – Control, Transparency, Pricing, Security

Control
You control the investments of your Quest Self Invested PRB. There is, subject to a small number of Revenue restrictions, an extremely wide range of investments available to you to invest in through your PRB.

Transparency
When you control the investments of your Quest Self Invested PRB you can easily identify the costs associated with it.

Pricing
The PRB will typically be significantly cheaper than a traditional PRB with an insurance company.

Security
The assets of the Quest Self Invested PRB are held in individual unit trusts, they therefore do not sit on the balance sheet of Quest Capital Trustees Ltd, as such are protected and readily identifiable for the PRB investor.

What are the tax advantages of the Quest Self Invested PRB?

The PRB is a tax-free pension bond.

• Investments in the Quest Self Invested PRB are allowed to grow free of Irish Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
• Deposit income grows free of DIRT.
• A tax free cash lump sum can be taken at retirement (subject to limits).
• The balance of the Quest Self Invested PRB can be transferred to an ARF, or alternatively an annuity (annual income) can be bought with the balance of the PRB.

Contributing to my Quest Self Invested PRB

Contributions to your PRB can come from a number of limited sources;

• Paid up occupational pension schemes
• Occupational pension schemes that are being wound up
• Existing PRBs

What retirement options are available at retirement?

There are 2 options available at retirement:

Option 1
Normally you will be able to take a lump sum of 25% (subject to a maximum tax free lump sum of €200,000) of the value of the PRB and invest the remainder in an Approved Retirement Fund or take the remainder as taxable cash.

Option 2
Alternatively you can take a lump sum of up to 150% of final salary (subject to a maximum tax free lump sum of €200,000), based on years of service with the original employer, and buy an annual income (annuity) with the balance.

What happens on my death?

If you die before drawing your retirement benefits and the benefit is considered a “preserved benefit” under the Pensions Act, the funds will be paid to your estate on death without the deduction of tax, however Inheritance Tax may be payable where inherited by a beneficiary who is not your spouse or civil partner at the date of your death.

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