Friends Provident International FPI Premier Advance Review
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TailorMade Ratings:
Fund Access 2.6 / 5
Charges 2.0 / 5
Accessibility 1.0 / 5
Pros
- Widely available and sold
- Offers some tax protection in certain jurisdictions
- If kept running to original planned term then may promote savings concept (but statistics from many other companies show that less than 20% of regular savings plans are maintained to term)
Cons
- No flexibility of full withdrawal or full access in the early years without penalty
- Many countries do not recognise any tax concessions
- Commission wipes out all initial investments made making this an extremely expensive option
- Does not provide full access to lowest cost funds and passive trackers
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Friends Provident International – FPI – has over 35 years of international experience and is part of the Aviva group which has a heritage that dates back over 300 years.
FPI provide savings, investment and protection products to customers in Asia and the UAE. With offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Isle of Man, FPI have more than 500 staff worldwide .
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Most helpful FPI Premier Advance Review| Policy Currency: The FPI Premier Advance may be denominated in US dollar, GB pound, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, Swedish krona (SEK) or Euro. Benefits will be paid in the plan currency. |
| Why choose the FPI Premier Advance: Leading Fund Houses offer a wide choice of investment funds. You choose from over 100* risk-rated funds covering all the major world markets and investment classes. The funds section contains performance statistics which are updated monthly, fund prices which are updated daily and Fund Fact Sheets on each fund. |
| FPI Premier Advance promotion: What does FPI write about their own FPI Premier Advance? the FPI Premier Advance is an international investment product that offers potential for capital growth over the medium to long term (five years +).It gives you access to the world’s investment markets through unit trusts, investment trusts and open-ended investment companies. The personalised assets version could also include international equities, fixed interest securities, structured notes and deposits. There is also an option to use FPI’s own funds however, these are “Mirror funds” which are a copy of the underlying fund and therefore may give different returns than the underlying fund it is mirrored from. |
| Eligibility: FPI Premier Advance is a regular premium, whole of life, life assurance contract issued by Friends Provident International. It is available to most international investors outside of main regulated territories such as the UK, the U.S.A. and Australia. |
| Minimums: Minimum £300 per month. You can pay additional amounts via a number of different methods including credit card. Payment by credit card into the FPI Premier Advance will result in a charge of between 1% and 1.95% of each payment additional cost. |
| Charges: An initial charge of 1.5% is taken each quarter from your initial unit holding over the term of the plan. A monthly plan charge of £4 ( or equivalent currency)Annual Policy Charge Structure: An annual fund administration charge of 1.2% of the plan value. Other Charges: Annual management charges and other fund expenses are imposed by the underlying fund manager and the amount depends on which fund is chosen. Full details of charges can be found FPI Charging Structures Are FPI Premier Advance charges explicit: By explicit, it means that it is clear to see not only the charges for taking out the plan but also the cost of funds annually, any upfront fund costs, penalties on access, etc. Yes, in the main the FPI Premier Advance charges are clearly shown and any professional should be able to interpret them. We have had feedback from clients though that they find it extremely difficult to interpret charges such as how any early access penalties would be calculated. |
| Surrender of the FPI Premier Advance: Your plan will not have a cash-in value until you have paid at least 12 months’ worth of payments. We understand from clients who have taken out these plans that there are also heavy encashment penalties after 12 months depending on the original term of the policy and when you want to access it. These penalties pay for the commissions earned up front by your salesman.
Documents FPI Premier Advance Brochure |
Quick Summary from TailorMade
The Friends Provident International (FPI) Premier Advance is an expensive option compared with a pure platform custodian plan and supposed tax benefits can be outweighed by charges and lost through penalties. Those penalties in the first 12 months are extremely high effectively wiping out any money saved in that time.
When considering a Friends Provident International (FPI) Premier Advance then ensure you fully understand the local taxation position and weigh any benefits against its lack of flexibility, access and charges which are often not explained. It does not offer a full range of discounted funds, direct equities or trackers to invest in.
Would you recommend this product?Please help us rate this product and give your comments. Your feedback is important to others. Read your reviews here › The Editor reserves the right to edit and remove contentious comments and may contact you to verify your comments. |
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