Research by the LV= flexible retirement solutions business has revealed that more financial advisers than ever are using the freedom that self invested personal pensions allow their clients post A-day.
Two years on from pensions simplification, and a year after self invested personal pensions (SIPP) became a regulated product, the survey conducted amongst 250 financial advisers highlights the increased take up of SIPPs.
The research shows that since April 2006 almost a third of advisers who previously did not undertake any SIPP business have now begun advising and completing SIPP cases and more than one quarter have increased the amount of SIPP business they are doing on behalf of clients.
Ray Chinn, head of pensions at LV=, said: It is certainly encouraging to see an increase in the interest in SIPPs shown by advisers, especially as there had been some concerns that not enough advisers were exploring the SIPP options with their clients.
All financial advisers should be exploring SIPPs as a real alternative. Some of the ‘packaged SIPP products’ – linked to investment platforms or offering easy access to discretionary management services – can work particularly well in terms of providing investment flexibility while keeping costs down.