They’ve normally been accumulated over a number of years, through different regimes and schemes. Pension protection is already into double figures and a change to tax relief may complicate things further.
Advisers value the pension technical expertise that is concentrated in Sipp providers, particularly when larger legacy providers have allowed theirs to decline while others are uninterested in complex business that does not easily fit their system or requirements.
On 6 April 2015, pension savers found that their newfound freedom to access their pension funds was, in fact, rather regulated. It took them longer than expected to do what they wanted to do, but most of them got there in the end. Sipp operators are equally heavily regulated but they still have a good deal more freedom to operate than most.
Those who focus on where they can excel and offer a competitive advantage to advisers will continue to prosper.
Greg Kingston is head of communications and insight at Suffolk Life
