Tim Shallcross, head of business development at Castletown-based fiduciary and pension group Optimus Limited, has been to Istanbul to sell his company’s Turkish international pension plan as well say as why the Isle of Man is a jurisdiction of choice in Istanbul.

Optimus, which has recently established an international pension in South Africa, has, along with Levantine & Co and contribution from Centrum Consulting of Turkey, developed an international pension offering for the Turkish market, which was officially launched last week.

’This is something we have been working towards for about nine months and we are excited that we are able to take our product to market and discuss it with advisers who have already expressed an initial interest for their clients,’said Tim.

’While the Turkish market has an understanding of the Isle of Man they are more accustomed to Switzerland and Luxemburg so it was an ideal opportunity to speak about the benefits of the Isle of Man to a captive audience.’

The seminar took place at the Wyndham Grand Hotel on Thursday in the heart of Istanbul and was focused around international wealth management in the changing global environment.

In addition to Tim, Ramazan Bicer, partner at Centrum Consulting, discussed the impact of investments and taxation with the introduction of International Exchange of Information plus Attila Kadikoy, managing director of Levantine and Co, talked on long-term international investing and identifying the risks.

’It is great that Optimus were able to join us for the launch of this product here in Istanbul,’ said Attila.

’With the elections having taken place over the weekend there are ongoing discussions regarding investments, tax and international financial centres.

’What we aim to capture at the seminar is how as a collective we can assist advisers and their clients find the best solution for their situation.’

After the event, Tim continued onto South Africa where he has been developing business over the past 18 months which has resulted in Optimus recently employing its first South Africa-based member of staff.