RL360 Quantum Review

 What is their Quantum solution?

RL360 Quantum is a regular savings plan, now discontinued to new investors, that acts as a cash builder for expats who have relatively modest amounts of money to put aside. If you are over 18 and have decided to save at least £200 a month for five years or more. The effectiveness depends on your tax residence and how tax rules vary between different countries.

The RL360 Quantum is an international regular savings plan which contracts you to save an agreed amount on a regular basis for a pre-agreed number of years.

Savings plans like the RL360° Quantum Savings Plan were designed to run alongside expat pensions, not to replace them. Quantum aims to offer somewhere to build savings for significant future expenses, private schooling or just a place to sensibly put extra savings for retirement.

That’s why the plan is more flexible than a domestic pension in some ways, despite having shorter terms. Savers can take money from accumulation units when they like from when the initial allocation period has ended.

What’s the investment choice?

RL360° Quantum Savings Plan has a decent range of funds and there are no charges for moving your savings between funds, sectors or investment themes whenever you wish.

Is the Quantum multi-currency?

Policies are in one of seven major world currencies – the British Pound (GBP), Euro (EUR), United States dollar (USD), Swiss franc (CHF), Australian dollar (AUD), Hong Kong dollar (HKD) or Japanese yen (JPY).

What’s the minimum amount I can contribute to my Quantum plan?

Expats can save how much they wish, providing the minimum level of US$320 is hit. If you want to save more, then the contribution can be changed later.

Contract terms are from 5 to 25 years and the minimums are 5 – 9 years = £400 per month, 10 years+ = £200 per month. Or currency equivalent (accounts offered in GBP, USD, EURO, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, SWISS Franc, Australian Dollar).

Putting money into your RL360° Quantum Savings Plan is easy – by direct debit or transfer from your bank account or credit card without any additional charges.

How do I get a valuation or see my plan statements?

Keep up with your account, savings and investments at anytime 24/7 with the RL360° online platform, accessible from anywhere with internet access.

What are the charges?

Initial unit charge: a charge of 0.50% per month will be deducted from the value of the initial units held within your policy. This charge will be deducted in arrears throughout the premium term.

Contract charge: there is an ongoing contract charge of 0.125% of the current fund value, deducted each month in arrears. The charge is applied proportionately across both initial and accumulation units.

Policy fee: a monthly policy fee will be deducted in arrears from the policy’s accumulation units. This equates to £5 or currency equivalent.

Additional charges: the funds that are held within your policy will be subject to an annual management charge, typically between 0.5% and 2%.

There are a variety of fees and charges that apply to the plan and all these will impact on the return you receive from the plan.

Are there any discounts or bonuses available?

The bonus depends on how long the savings plan has been open and is paid on the number of full years of premium payments. This does mean that each customer is likely to receive a different bonus amount, but something is paid in every case.

The plan offers a choice of more than 170 funds and savers can have money in as many as they like, providing they maintain the low regular premium for each fund, which is generally £25 a month.

Obviously, the longer the policy is held and premiums maintained, the higher the bonus paid.

What happens if I want to close the plan early, stop contributing or withdraw some cash?

If a RL360 Quantum savings plan is surrendered within its original initial allocation period, it will have no surrender value – in effect suffering a 100% surrender charge. Once the RL360 Quantum savings plan has completed the initial allocation period, then if the policy is surrendered in part or in full, the initial units purchased will be subject to a surrender charge.

It is important to be aware that the RL360 Quantum Savings Plan is a medium to long-term savings plan, if you decided to cancel the plan in the early years you could lose a large proportion of the money you have saved.

RL360° is a life insurance company. They know a customer’s financial circumstances can change at short notice, so the plan includes a contribution holiday that allows a saving’s break. You also have the flexibility to take cash out when you like and to pay in extra lump sums. Savers can take a break from contributing to the RL360° Quantum Savings Plan for up to two years.

Each RL360° Quantum Savings Plan has an initial allocation period. During this time, no money can be taken from the plan. The length of the initial allocation period depends on the terms you have agreed with your independent financial adviser. Once the period has expired, savers can withdraw money monthly, quarterly, four-monthly, six-monthly or yearly. One-off withdrawals are also allowed.

The company points out that Quantum is a regular savings policy designed for capital growth over the medium to long term, so taking regular withdrawals which exceed investment growth are likely to impact the value of any savings.