A-Day looms for Sipp pensions

Benefiting from the nearing of A-Day, Scottish insurance group Standard Life has taken over one billion pounds worth of assets into its Self Invested Personal Pension in under nine months.

With investors preparing for significant UK pension changes in April 2006, known in the industry as A-Day, Standard Life have become just one of the many groups to have gained from Sipp changes.

Changes to Sipp Pensions, or Self Invested Personal Pensions, will allow investors to add property into their pensions for the first time. The changes will also allow for other alternative investments to be added to their personal pensions, including art investments, wine, stamps, toys and many other collectibles.

Many have argued that Sipp Pensions will only be advantageous to wealthy individuals, a point which hasn’t gone unnoticed by independent financial advisors and the Treasury, who now propose to enforce some form of regulation to this form of pension.

Indeed, one of the benefits of the Sipps is that the asset is completely under the investor’s control.

Standard Life marketing director Barry O’Dwer said, “Our Sipp has attracted investors who are excited about the opportunities available to them on A-Day… it has seen a proportion of the population re-engage with the pensions industry.”

Financial advisors Hargreaves Landsown, have also found an increasing number of wealthy investors to be putting as many investments into their pension as possible before A-Day. However, a spokesman from the company said they were uncertain how popular the residential property as an investment would prove in practice.

Date: 22.09.05