The Sipp market has grown dramatically and there are now estimated to be over a million Sipps in force, although the wide definition makes it difficult to be exact.
Well what about the future? This year should be a big year for Sipps – we should get the final capital adequacy rules which are forecast to lead to some degree of consolidation in the market, and we will hear more about the FCA’s most recent thematic review. Platforms will continue to dominate in the Sipp market but I do think that there will be some ‘bespoke’ survivors. And who knows how the new retirement flexibility will impact the market? Surely it will be positive.
Mike Morrison is head of platform marketing at AJ Bell
Key points
- It is 25 years since the government of the day announced it would like to make it easier for people to manage their own pension funds.
- The concept of the Sipp opened the choice to pretty much the whole investment market.
- A number of providers developed a direct-to-consumer offering.
