Looking ahead, Premier Pension Services (PPS) sees a huge appeal for self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) to hold protected rights funds, either to facilitate their wider investment opportunities, increase borrowing potential or simply for clients to consolidate, for the first time, all their pension savings into one pension product.
PPS says they received many enquiries from both independent financial advisers and clients alike asking if this is already possible.
Nigel Manley, Head of Self-Invested Pensions, PPS, says, “Having had numerous conversations with financial advisers and their clients, there is a clear appetite for protected rights funds to be held within a self-invested arrangement and PPS is therefore already planning to further develop its SIPP contract to facilitate this opportunity. At the moment as an independent SIPP provider we are having to wait on the government to remove the current restrictions and consequently it is on the wrong side of an uneven playing field.”
PPS believes the opening up of the protected rights market to providers other than insurance companies will give the SIPP market another significant boost, on top of the simplification changes. PPS says the opportunity to control the investment of these funds shouldnt be underestimated and hopes the government will make the changes as flexible and simple as possible.
Nigel Manley continues, “A SIPP is often the ideal vehicle for the client who has pension rights scattered across several providers and the inclusion of protected rights will complete the picture and offer a valuable alternative to a basic insured product.”