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Big jump in advisers recommending offshore bonds according to L&G

2nd November 2011 Print

The latest research from Legal & General International (Ireland) shows a significant increase in the number of advisers who have recommended offshore bonds compared to two years ago.

The study, which was run in September, found half (50.0%) of advisers questioned said that they were already recommending offshore bonds for clients, a 70 per cent increase on the same figure taken in February 2009, which was 30.1%.

When asked what has driven the recent strong performance of the offshore bond market, six out of ten advisers (61.0%) gave a growing awareness of the potential uses for offshore bonds in IHT planning as their top reason (2009 = 59%).

CEO of Legal & General International (Ireland) Ltd, David Fagan said: "We have seen a growing demand for offshore bonds over the last year boosted by a number of key drivers;

In our latest survey the number of advisers who believe offshore bonds are becoming more "mainstream" has doubled (37%) compared to two years ago (17%).   

Economic uncertainty and the continuing public debate about increases in personal taxation means that more people are looking for tax efficient ways of holding their assets for the future.

The freeze on the level of the transferable nil rate band, at £325,000 to 2014/15, has led to an increase in offshore investment bonds as a recommended vehicle for estate planning and IHT management.

And finally, fewer advisers perceive offshore bonds as more expensive than onshore bonds. In our research only 6 per cent of advisers questioned cited "too expensive" as a reason for not using offshore bonds in coming months. There was also a 33% rise in the number of advisers saying offshore bonds are no longer more expensive than onshore bonds this time round (44%) compared to just 2 years ago (33%)."