Pick the one closest to you and we show the services that fit.
Everything below is set up for you by your own senior advisor.
Or Freephone 1800 808 808 and a senior advisor takes it from there.
A master trust is an occupational pension scheme run by a professional trustee for many employers. Your company gets its own section, for a director's executive pension, for staff, or both, funded on salary and service, with room for death in service cover inside the same trust. We compare the main Irish master trusts and set it up for you.
Directors, staff numbers, rough salaries and any pensions already in place. Two minutes, then a senior advisor is in touch with what the company can pay in.
Tax relief, contribution limits and the right plan differ between the three.
Stored securely, never sold. Used only to come back to you about your request.
A confirmation email is on its way to you, and a senior financial advisor is reviewing what you sent and will be in touch. Want to get ahead in the diary? Book your discovery call, or Freephone 1800 808 808.
A master trust is a defined contribution occupational pension scheme, set up under trust for many employers at once. A professional trustee runs it and carries the legal duties. Each employer has its own section and decides who is included, what goes in and what benefits it provides.
Since the IORP II rules, it is how new executive pensions for directors are generally set up, and how many employers now run their staff scheme. At the end of October 2025, Irish defined contribution master trusts held more than €40 billion for about 725,000 members.
For many years, a director's pension was a one-member executive pension: a scheme of its own, with the company as sponsor and the director as its only member. The EU pension rules known as IORP II, brought into Irish law in April 2021, changed that. Trustees now need minimum qualifications and experience, key function holders for risk and internal audit, written policies, an own-risk assessment and stricter investment rules.
New one-member schemes had to meet those duties in full from July 2022, and the exemption for older ones ended on 21 April 2026. For many, the Pensions Authority notes, meeting them is not financially viable, and it describes the remaining schemes as winding up and moving to master trusts and PRSAs. A master trust keeps the funding rules of the executive pension and hands the trustee work to a professional board.
The rules below come from Revenue and the Pensions Authority, checked in October 2026. Your senior advisor applies them to your company's figures.
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Maximum benefit | A pension of up to two-thirds of final salary, available after 10 years' service to normal retirement age |
| Company contribution | Worked out from salary, service to retirement and pensions already held, with the cost of death in service cover on top |
| Tax for the company | Ordinary annual contributions deducted in the year paid. A large one-off contribution may be spread over up to five years |
| Tax for the member | No income tax, PRSI or USC on the company's contribution, and no benefit in kind |
| Death in service | A lump sum of up to four times salary, a refund of the member's own contributions, and a pension or ARF for a spouse, civil partner or dependants |
| Normal retirement age | Between 60 and 70. From 50 on leaving the company; a director with 20% or more must cut all links with the business, including selling the shares |
| Lump sum | 25% of the fund, or up to 1.5 times final salary based on service. The first €200,000 of lifetime retirement lump sums carries no tax and the next €300,000 is taxed at 20% |
| Leaving early | After two years' service, a leaver keeps their benefits in the scheme or transfers them |
| Standard fund threshold | €2.2 million in 2026, rising by €200,000 a year to €2.8 million in 2029. The excess is taxed at 40% when benefits are taken |
For an executive pension there is no fixed percentage of pay. Revenue sets a formula: the pension the member could have at retirement on their current salary and full service, turned into a fund value, less what they already hold, spread over the years left to retirement. The cost of death in service cover can be added on top.
Revenue's own worked example shows how far that goes:
A director with less saved, or fewer years to go, can often have more paid in. A company PRSA caps the company at 100% of pay; a master trust follows the formula. We run both on your figures before the company commits. Our company PRSA and director pensions pages set out the other routes.
A master trust section for staff works like a company scheme of your own, without the trustee board. You set the contribution rate and the eligibility rules, the trustee is responsible for the funds on offer, including the default, and each member gets a benefit statement every year with projections of what they could have at retirement.
Death in service cover can be insured inside the same trust, paying up to four times salary as a lump sum, with a pension or ARF for a spouse, civil partner or dependants. Staff who pay in with you through payroll at the minimum rates are exempt from MyFutureFund.
Directors, staff, salaries and any pensions already in place. The form takes two minutes.
For directors, the Revenue maximum on salary and service. For staff, the rate and eligibility rules, costed in euro against MyFutureFund.
Trustees, charges, default funds and member service from the main Irish providers, including Irish Life, Zurich, Aviva and New Ireland.
The participation agreement, Revenue approval for your company and the paperwork with the provider, handled for you.
An old executive pension or company scheme brought into the master trust where that suits you.
Funding room, contributions, funds and charges checked before the company's year end.
We (Richie and Nickey) received excellent pension advice that was clear, honest, and tailored to my situation. Everything was explained in a way we could easily understand, and we felt confident making decisions about my future. Highly professional service and very reassuring throughout the process.
They made setting up a company pension on a deadline extremely easy and stress free. You can tell they understand the products inside out. Very approachable, great availability for support with instant and clear answers.
True Wealth was super efficient in locating my UK pension. They were very professional and responsive in dealing with the relevant pension organization. I would highly recommend True Wealth.
Thank you for the several calls to advise me. Great client attention! Eimear is fantastic! I had my pension sorted and a few insurances arranged. All the best.
Excellent service. Always there if I had any questions, would recommend without hesitation. A 5 star service. Thank you everyone.
Straight answers with the figures. If yours is not here, a senior advisor answers it in your review.
An occupational pension scheme for many employers under one trust, run by a professional trustee board. Each employer has its own section and decides the contributions, the benefits and who is included. The trustee carries the legal duties, so you and your directors do not.
A new executive pension is now generally set up as a section of a master trust. It keeps the funding rules of the old executive pension, so the company can pay in on salary and service, but the trustee work sits with the master trust instead of with you.
There is no set percentage. The provider calculates the Revenue maximum from your age, salary, service to retirement and the pensions you already hold, and the cost of death in service cover can be added on top. For a director with long service and a short run to retirement, it can be more than a year's salary.
It depends on the numbers. A PRSA lets the company pay up to 100% of your pay each year and is owned by you. A master trust follows the Revenue formula, which can allow more for a long-serving director, and can include death in service cover. We run both. See our company PRSA page.
The exemption for one-member schemes set up before 22 April 2021 ended on 21 April 2026, and any that continue must meet the full IORP II duties. For many, the answer is a move into a master trust or a PRSA. We compare both and handle the transfer.
Yes. A company can run directors' executive pensions and a staff scheme in the same master trust, each with its own contribution rate and rules.
Yes. Insured life cover can be set up within the trust, paying a lump sum of up to four times salary, with a pension or ARF for a spouse, civil partner or dependants. For cover outside the pension, see our group protection page.
At the scheme's normal retirement age, set between 60 and 70. Benefits can start from 50 on leaving the company, but a director with 20% or more must cut all links with the business, including selling the shares. Benefits can be paid at any age on retirement through ill health.
A master trust section invests through the funds the trustee makes available. For a pension that holds property directly, a small self-administered scheme is the usual route; our property through your pension page sets out what it can buy.
The provider's charges are taken from the fund, and the trustee must give six months' notice of any increase. Charges differ between master trusts, so we compare them in euro before you choose.
Sources checked 8 October 2026.
Two minutes on the form. A senior advisor is in touch with what your company can pay in, in euro.