Kiwi with Irish Pensions- ARF from Overseas Setup and Cost Questions

I

IrishKiwi

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We moved from Ireland to NZ over 20 years ago. We have pensions in Ireland which can't be moved to NZ. I know ARFs aren't ideal if you live overseas but we don't really want an annuity.
Our objective is to invest in broad global index funds or low-cost ETFs (similar to a Total World Fund / Vanguard FTSE All-World).

I would really appreciate any insight or real-world experience on the following:

  1. Qualifying Providers: Which QFMs / platforms / life companies will actually allow non-residents (specifically NZ residents) to open an ARF from abroad?
  2. Intermediaries / Execution-Only Brokers: Do we need to go through an Irish broker to set this up? (From what I understand, an execution-only broker may be the minimum regulatory requirement to get application forms processed.)
  3. Setup Costs & Allocation Rates: What are the typical setup fees for an execution-only broker, and should we expect a 100% allocation rate?
  4. Ongoing Annual Fees: What is a realistic total annual fee drag (Platform/AMC + Fund OCF + Broker trail) for a passive equity strategy?
  5. New Zealand Tax Considerations: I understand the complexity of Irish PAYE withholding tax on ARF drawdowns for non-residents. If anyone living in NZ has actual experience managing an Irish ARF, applying foreign tax credits (FTCs) under the NZ–Ireland DTA, or dealing with IRD regarding regular drawdowns vs. lump sums, I’d love to hear how it has worked out in practice.
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
 
Cross border business acceptance rules mean that most providers will only facilitate the set up of post retirement products for pre-existing customers i.e. where they are already the administrator of the pre-retirement pension fund.

Most insurers are not approved for cross border business sales under Central Bank licensing and passporting rules but some will allow the set up of post-retirement products for existing customers to facilitate the natural conclusion of a product e.g. from a pension perspective where set up of the post-retirement product is the natural conclusion of the pre-retirement product for a now non-resident customer.

This means your post-retirement product will most likely need to remain with your current pre-retirement pension provider.
 
I think Smoneen is correct. Selling a financial product to a New Zealand resident when you're not licensed to sell financial products in New Zealand is something most financial product providers would not wish to do. (You can insert any other country for "New Zealand" in that sentence and it will still hold good.) Only the financial product provider whose customer you already are is likely to be willing to entertain you (and even they may not be made keen).
 
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