You live in Kuala Lumpur. Your pension, savings and estate live somewhere else.
Bratu Capital is a cross-border wealth management firm based in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. It advises European expatriate professionals living in Malaysia on UK and European pensions, investing through Irish-domiciled UCITS funds, currency exposure and estate planning across more than one country.
Bratu Capital is a trading name of NEBA Private Clients Ltd, used for marketing purposes. NEBA Private Clients group companies are regulated by the Labuan Financial Services Authority in Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Securities and Commodities Authority in the UAE. Ciprian Bratu, Chartered MCSI, is Managing Partner of Bratu Capital and a Senior Partner at NEBA.
Fees: 1% a year on assets under management. No trail commissions and no product-linked payments.
European professionals in Kuala Lumpur with money in three or four countries
Our clients in Kuala Lumpur are typically senior professionals aged 35 to 55, working in oil and gas, banking or technology. Most are British, French, German, Dutch, Spanish or Romanian. They earn in ringgit or US dollars, hold pensions and savings in Europe, and expect to retire somewhere other than Malaysia.
The questions they bring are rarely about Malaysia alone. A British engineer has a final-salary pension and a CETV quote to assess. A French manager has AGIRC-ARRCO entitlements and a property in Lyon. A German banker has a Riester contract whose state subsidies can be clawed back after a move outside the EU and EEA. A Dutch family has gaps in their AOW record. Each case joins a home-country system to a Malaysian life.
Clients meet us at the Mont Kiara office or by video call, and Ciprian Bratu meets clients in person across the region, including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Documents, pension statements and platform data are shared digitally, so the work continues when a client moves on to Singapore, Dubai or home.
Three Malaysian facts that shape every plan we write here
Malaysia taxes Malaysian income
Malaysia taxes income sourced in Malaysia. Foreign-sourced income remitted by individuals is exempt until 31 December 2036, under the extension announced in Budget 2025. The exemption has conditions, and pension drawdown needs checking against them. Our FSI exemption guide sets out the detail.
A UK pension cannot move to a Malaysian scheme
No Malaysian pension arrangement appears on HMRC's list of recognised overseas pension schemes. A transfer to a QROPS in another country while living in Malaysia generally triggers the 25% Overseas Transfer Charge. For most clients the pension stays in the UK, and the work is in structure and drawdown. See UK pension transfer to Malaysia.
Where a fund is domiciled matters more than which fund
US-domiciled ETFs expose non-US persons to US estate tax of up to 40% on US-situs assets above $60,000. Irish-domiciled accumulating UCITS funds give the same market exposure without the US estate tax. That is why Irish UCITS are our default for clients in Kuala Lumpur. See UCITS vs US ETFs.
Get the expat financial planning checklist
The structural questions every expat should settle: tax residency, pensions, fund structure and estate. One page, free.
Four questions to put to any adviser in Kuala Lumpur, with our answers
Kuala Lumpur has a long history of commission-driven offshore products: regular savings plans with long lock-ins and bonds with heavy exit charges. These four questions separate advice from distribution. Put them to every firm on your shortlist, including us.
Which legal entity will advise me, and who regulates it?
Bratu Capital is a trading name of NEBA Private Clients Ltd, used for marketing purposes. NEBA Private Clients group companies are regulated by the Labuan Financial Services Authority in Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Securities and Commodities Authority in the UAE. Each licence, with its type and number, is printed in the footer below. Our regulatory check tool shows how to verify any adviser.
How are you paid, in total, and by whom?
1% a year on assets under management, paid by the client. No trail commissions. No product-linked payments. Ongoing management starts at $250,000 of investable assets; below that, flat-fee planning packages are available on the services page.
Will my money be locked in?
No. Portfolios are built from Irish-domiciled UCITS funds held on a transparent custodial platform in the client's own name. There are no surrender charges built into how we work.
What happens to the plan when I leave Malaysia?
The plan is built to travel. We work through the tax position of the next country before the move. Clients who move to Singapore, the Gulf or back to Europe keep the same structure and the same adviser.
From a first call to a plan you can check
The first conversation is a 30-minute call. We look at where your pensions, savings and property sit, which countries have a claim on them, and where you expect to retire. If the cross-border picture is simple, we say so. If the question is mainly a Malaysian onshore matter, such as a local insurance policy, we refer you to a local specialist.
Where there is real cross-border work, the next step is a written plan. It covers each pension and its options, the currency mix, the investment structure, and the estate position in every country with a claim. Implementation follows only once you have read it and agreed.
After that, the plan is reviewed once a year and whenever your situation changes: a new job, a move, a child, an inheritance. We work with a small number of clients, because cross-border advice degrades quickly at scale.
Also covering: Dubai | Qatar | Saudi Arabia
Frequently asked questions
Where is Bratu Capital's office in Kuala Lumpur?
Bratu Capital works from 15-3 Menara 1 MK, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Clients meet at the Mont Kiara office, by video call, or in person when Ciprian Bratu travels across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Who regulates Bratu Capital?
Bratu Capital is a trading name of NEBA Private Clients Ltd, used for marketing purposes. NEBA Private Clients group companies are regulated by the Labuan Financial Services Authority in Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Securities and Commodities Authority in the UAE. Each licence, with its type and number, is printed in the footer of every page on this site.
How does Bratu Capital charge for advice in Kuala Lumpur?
Ongoing management costs 1% a year on assets under management. There are no trail commissions and no product-linked payments. Ongoing management starts at $250,000 of investable assets. Below that, flat-fee planning packages are available.
Can I transfer my UK pension to Malaysia?
Not to a Malaysian scheme. No Malaysian pension arrangement appears on HMRC's list of recognised overseas pension schemes. A transfer to a QROPS in another country while you live in Malaysia generally triggers the 25% Overseas Transfer Charge. For most UK pension holders in Malaysia, the pension stays in the UK, often consolidated in a SIPP, and the work is in how drawdown is taxed.
Does Bratu Capital only advise British expats in Malaysia?
No. Clients in Kuala Lumpur include British, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Romanian professionals. Each nationality brings its own home-country pension and tax questions, such as AGIRC-ARRCO for French nationals, Riester and Rürup for Germans, and AOW gaps for the Dutch.
A European pension and a Kuala Lumpur life is a cross-border planning problem
Book a 30-minute call at the Mont Kiara office or by video. We will tell you plainly whether there is cross-border work to do.
Book a Planning Session