The provider with the most funds under management is the same as last year – Barnett Waddingham, which has £4.1bn.
According to our figures, the number of SSASs grew by nearly 16 per cent, from 14,107 in last year’s survey to 16,362 today. The average number of SSASs across every provider is 528, an increase from 470 in 2013.
Standout figures come from Barnett Waddingham and Talbot & Muir, as both made acquisitions this year. Barnett Waddingham saw its number of schemes increasing having purchased Harsant Services, acquiring 70 SSAS books in August. And in September the group purchased Chase de Vere’s Sipp and SSAS business, adding 275 SSAS clients to its books. Talbot & Muir, as previously mentioned, acquired 188 new books from Oval Trustees.
Dentons also saw a slight increase in total number of SSASs, despite a drop in funds under management (from £958m in 2013 to £805m in 2014). The provider says it also set up 42 schemes, which means there were some ‘lost’ SSASs. This could be down to anything from member deaths, retirements or wishing to invest in assets the provider does not use.
Speaking about 2014’s figures, Dentons’ director of technical services, Martin Tilley, says, “To 1 December 2014, we saw a net gain of seven schemes in our SSAS book, with 30 SSASs being closed due to member deaths and retirements where benefit payments result in the liquidation and wind-up of the fund. In addition, we have resigned from schemes where clients have wanted to invest in assets that we believe would result in tax charges.”
“We also have a programme of actively reviewing smaller cases and those not utilising the facilities of a SSAS to determine whether a SSAS remains appropriate for the client. Last year this resulted in several SSAS wind-ups with funds transferred to more economical or appropriate vehicles including Sipps,” he adds.
As with other trends throughout the Table, the number of SSASs set up in 2014 to 1 December has increased. Throughout 2013, the number of schemes set up was 672 – a 37 scheme average across all respondents – while in 2014 (as of 1 December), the average number of schemes stands at 50 with a total of 1,139 – a 69 per cent increase.
Overhauling the industry
According to industry experts, the SSAS market should remain largely unaffected by April’s pension overhaul. Robert Graves, head of pensions technical services at Rowanmoor, says the new flexibilities will apply equally to SSASs as they do other forms of defined contribution schemes. “The SSAS target market is essentially limited to directors and key employees of a sponsoring employer and this market will not increase. We would expect personal pensions – including Sipps – to be the main benefactors of the changes. However, if the changes do engender a greater attraction to making pension provision then we might expect financial advisers to be considering the most suitable pension product, which should include consideration of a SSAS,” he adds.
