The short answer

Ardan International is an Isle of Man wealth platform, part of the IFGL group, that lets expats hold funds, ETFs, shares, bonds, structured notes and fixed-rate deposits in one online account, with cash in up to 11 currencies and no transaction charges for switching between them. Its published charges are a 0.4% yearly account fee and dealing from £5 a trade, with no minimum investment, no lock-in and no exit charges. A free beneficiary trust helps assets pass to your family without probate, and a new Ardan SIPP was launched in July 2026. Ardan is available only through financial advisers. Lawrence offers a free review to help you decide whether a platform like Ardan — or a bond, or both — is right for you.

Who Ardan International is

Ardan International Limited was launched in 2013 as an online wealth platform for international clients and their advisers. It's based in Castletown, in the Isle of Man, and audited by PwC.

Ardan belongs to International Financial Group Limited (IFGL), alongside RL360, Friends Provident International and IFGL Pensions. Together, the group looks after around US$31 billion of assets for more than 212,000 customers. That gives Ardan the backing of one of the largest groups in international savings, while it concentrates on one thing: running a modern, flexible investment platform.

Ardan serves international investors, trustees, companies and expats in more than 150 countries, through financial advisers in centres such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. It has won Best International Platform at the International Investment Awards in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and in 2025 AKG rated it "B (strong)" for financial strength and five stars for service.

Ardan at a glance

The common thread is flexibility: a platform that adapts to an international life, rather than a fixed-term plan you have to fit around.

How the platform works

Ardan is an "open architecture" wrap platform. Your adviser opens an account for you — as an individual, trustee or company — and builds a portfolio from a very wide range of investments. Everything is held in one place, valued daily and visible online around the clock.

What it can hold

• Funds — a range of tens of thousands, with access to the Allfunds research centre.
• Exchange-traded funds — low-cost index trackers.
• Shares on major stock exchanges.
• Bonds issued by governments and companies.
• Structured notes for defined outcomes.
• Fixed-rate deposits and notice accounts with Lloyds Bank International.

Model portfolios

Advisers can use model portfolios — run in-house or by an external discretionary fund manager — so your investments are managed to an agreed risk level and rebalanced automatically.

One login, many portfolios

A single login can show several portfolios — yours, a joint account, a family trust, a company — so you see your whole position at once.

Eleven currencies in one account

For expats, Ardan's multi-currency design is one of its biggest attractions. You can hold cash and investments in eleven currencies: US dollars, euros, pounds, Swiss francs, Japanese yen, Singapore dollars, Hong Kong dollars, Australian dollars, UAE dirhams, Canadian dollars and South African rand. You can switch between currency accounts online, with no transactional FX charges on the platform, and value your whole portfolio in any of them — changing your base currency if your plans change.

That makes it easy to match your money to your life: pounds for UK costs or a possible return home, dollars for global investments, and a reserve ready to move into baht as Thai costs approach. Baht isn't one of the platform currencies, so money for spending in Thailand still needs converting when you bring it in — at a good rate. Our guide to currency risk explains how to plan.

Ardan's published charges

Ardan's platform charges, from its published product summary.

Source: Ardan product summary ARD002h (05/24). Fund charges, adviser fees and third-party costs such as stockbroker fees are extra. Check the latest pricing with your adviser.

What it costs in practice

Ardan's pricing is refreshingly simple: a flat 0.4% a year on your portfolio, low dealing charges and no penalties for leaving. On a £100,000 portfolio that's about £400 a year; on £250,000, about £1,000. There's no minimum investment, and there are no establishment periods of the kind found on many savings plans and bonds.

Your total cost also includes the charges of the investments you hold and your adviser's fee. Choose low-cost index funds and ETFs and the total can be very competitive; add actively managed funds, a discretionary manager or structured notes and it rises. Independent reviewers have noted that a flat percentage fee is very competitive for smaller and mid-sized portfolios, while larger portfolios may find tiered pricing elsewhere — and that structured notes can carry costs that are less visible. Ask your adviser for the total yearly cost in pounds, and compare it with alternatives. Our guide to platform and fund charges shows how.

Where to start

Ardan is available only through a financial adviser. Start with a free conversation, and move your money at a good rate.

The free beneficiary trust

One of Ardan's most valuable features for expats is its free beneficiary trust. Without planning, money held in an account in your name can be frozen on death until probate is granted — and for an expat with assets in more than one country, that can take a long time.

Ardan's beneficiary trust is designed to avoid probate. Assets don't have to be sold on death, so the portfolio can be divided among your beneficiaries as it stands, and your family can access the money far more quickly. For a British expat with a Thai partner and children in the UK, that can make a very real difference at a difficult time. Our guide to offshore structures and trusts explains how trusts work for expats.

The Ardan SIPP

In July 2026, Ardan and its sister company IFGL Pensions launched the Ardan SIPP — a self-invested personal pension that combines IFGL Pensions' pension administration with the Ardan platform. It's designed for people whose retirement planning has to support an international life, with online valuations, consolidated reporting, broad investment choice, cash in 11 currencies, model portfolios and multiple trading runs each day.

For British expats with UK pensions, a SIPP can be an attractive way to consolidate old pensions and invest them properly while living abroad — especially now that transfers to overseas pension schemes carry a 25% charge for most people living in Thailand. Charges and drawdown details are in the product literature, available through advisers. Before moving any pension, check for guarantees or valuable benefits you might lose.

Platform, bond — or both?

A platform and an offshore bond aren't really rivals; they do different jobs, and many expats use both.

A platform like Ardan is about flexibility and cost: easy access, a wide choice of low-cost investments, several currencies and no lock-in. An offshore bond is about tax and estate planning: under UK rules, investments grow without yearly UK tax, you can take 5% a year tax-deferred, and bonds work neatly with a full range of trusts — valuable if you might return to the UK.

Within the IFGL group, the two can work together. RL360's PIMS portfolio bond, for example, allows an investment platform to be appointed to hold the bond's investments — combining the bond's tax wrapper with a platform's investment choice. Other expats keep a bond for long-term and estate-planning money, and a platform account for flexible savings they may need sooner.

The right mix depends on how much you have, how long you'll invest, whether you may go back to the UK and how you want your money to pass to your family. Our guide to offshore structures explains each in depth.

Getting started: how opening an account works

Opening an Ardan account is designed to be quick, and is done entirely online with your adviser:

1. A conversation with your adviser about your goals, risk level, currencies and timescale.
2. A written recommendation setting out the portfolio and every charge.
3. Online application, with app-based identity checks — Ardan says applications can be accepted in as little as 30 minutes.
4. Funding the account in the currency or currencies you choose.
5. Investing — your adviser places the trades, with several dealing runs each day.
6. Your own online access to valuations around the clock.
7. Setting up the beneficiary trust, if you want one.
8. A yearly review to rebalance and check the plan still fits.

Because there's no lock-in, you're never tied in if your circumstances change — but a good portfolio still works best when it's left to grow and reviewed calmly once a year.

How your money is protected

Ardan is built around keeping client assets separate and secure. Investments are held through a nominee company, client money is kept in segregated bank accounts, and Ardan's custody partners include Citibank and Allfunds. Client assets are never mixed with Ardan's own, so if anything happened to Ardan, they would remain the clients'. The business is audited each year by PwC.

As with any genuine platform, your money goes into the account in your name, you have your own online access and statements, and everything your adviser recommends is visible to you. Onboarding includes identity checks — biometric, document and database — which protect you as well as the platform. These are exactly the features our due diligence guide recommends looking for.

Strengths and points to consider

A balanced view of Ardan International for expats.

General observations from published information and independent reviews, October 2026 — not a recommendation for any individual.

Who Ardan suits

Ardan tends to suit expats who:

• Want flexibility — to add, withdraw and change investments without lock-ins.
• Hold money in several currencies, or may move country again.
• Want a low-cost portfolio of index funds and ETFs, or a managed model portfolio.
• Want family planning built in through the free beneficiary trust.
• Have UK pensions to consolidate, through the new Ardan SIPP.
• Value a large group behind the platform.

Expats who may return to the UK, or want the 5% allowance and UK tax deferral, may prefer an offshore bond — or a bond held alongside a platform. Our lump-sum directory compares the options.

How Ardan compares

A broad comparison with the other providers in our profiles.

See our Novia Global and RL360 profiles for more.

Ardan for expats in Thailand

• Currency: hold pounds and dollars on the platform, and convert a year's spending into baht at a good rate.
• Thai tax: foreign income and gains brought into Thailand by a Thai tax resident can be taxable since 2024; capital from before 2024 is protected. Keep clear records of what you invested and when — see our tax residence guide.
• Income: regular withdrawals can top up a frozen UK State Pension.
• Visa: a platform can hold the savings behind your retirement extension, while the ฿800,000 deposit sits in a Thai bank.
• Family: the beneficiary trust helps a Thai partner and children receive assets quickly.
• Moving on: the account moves with you if you relocate again.

Three ways expats use a platform

A home for a lump sum

House-sale proceeds, an inheritance or savings that a UK bank no longer lets you invest can be built into a diversified, low-cost portfolio — invested all at once or in stages — with no lock-in if plans change.

Retirement income

A platform makes it easy to keep a year or two of income in cash, a few years in bonds and the rest in growth investments, taking regular withdrawals and rebalancing as you go. Our guide to portfolio reviews and rebalancing explains how.

Education and family goals

Separate portfolios under one login can hold money for different goals — school fees, university, retirement — each with its own risk level and currency, moving to safer investments as each date approaches.

Three worked examples

Neil: a low-cost global portfolio

Neil, 55, in Bangkok, has £180,000 of savings and wants a simple, low-cost portfolio he can add to and draw from. Lawrence suggests a platform account with global ETFs in pounds and dollars, a model portfolio rebalanced automatically, and the free beneficiary trust for his wife and children.

Sophie and Arthit: two currencies, one view

Sophie, 44, and Arthit, 46, hold savings in pounds, dollars and Singapore dollars from years in Asia. A platform lets them see everything in one place, switch currencies online and plan for school fees in Bangkok and a possible university in the UK.

Geoff: old pensions, new SIPP

Geoff, 61, has two old UK workplace pensions and lives in Pattaya. After checking neither has valuable guarantees, Lawrence compares SIPP options for expats, including the new Ardan SIPP, so Geoff can consolidate, invest in a global portfolio and draw flexibly.

Questions to ask before you start

1. Platform, bond or both — and why, for my situation?
2. What is the total yearly cost — account fee, funds, dealing and advice — in pounds?
3. Which investments, and who will manage and rebalance them?
4. Which currencies, and how will I bring money into baht?
5. Should I use the beneficiary trust, and for whom?
6. How will withdrawals be taxed in Thailand?
7. What records should I keep for Thai tax?
8. How is the adviser paid, and how often will we review?

Your platform checklist

• Set your goals first: growth, income, education, family.
• Know the total cost in pounds and percentages.
• Build a diversified, low-cost portfolio.
• Choose your currencies to match your spending.
• Set up the beneficiary trust, and keep it up to date.
• Keep records of what you invest and when.
• Plan withdrawals around Thai tax.
• Review once a year and rebalance.

Keeping your account secure

• Use a strong, unique password for your platform login.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in wherever it's offered.
• Use a private, protected connection on hotel, café and condo Wi-Fi.
• Check withdrawal requests and bank details carefully — and never act on unexpected messages.

How we researched this profile

We used Ardan International's own published information — its brochure (February 2026), product summary (May 2024) for charges and currencies, "Ten reasons to use Ardan" and its July 2026 announcement of the Ardan SIPP — together with Adam Fayed's independent review (February 2025). Checked 13 October 2026. Charges and features change; check the latest pricing with your adviser. This profile is general information, not a recommendation of any product for any individual.