Question 6 asked respondents to rank a number of features in order of importance when choosing a Sipp. The results showed similar responses to last year, although the use of a third party comparison service such as Defaqto is now about half as likely as last year to be the most important thing advisers look for (8 per cent compared with 15 per cent last year) and is over twice as likely to be considered least important (8 per cent versus 19 per cent).
Total cost was still the priority for most advisers and the proportion that placed it first in order of importance rose slightly from 49 per cent last year to 57 per cent this. A further 30 per cent placed it second this year.
Past experience of good service remains an important factor in choosing a Sipp though, and comfortably recorded the second best figures.
The practice of some Sipp providers retaining interest was covered next, as we asked how advisers viewed it and 7 per cent were not concerned at all. This represented a slight drop from last year’s 11 per cent. This was more than mirrored by an increase in those who said categorically that they would not recommend any Sipp provider that retained interest, from 30 per cent to 38 per cent.
The remainder said the practice did not influence decisions at all, but the majority of them did view it as part of the Sipp’s overall cost.
Sceptical
When asked about the various high-profile Sipp commentators who appear regularly in the press, advisers profess to being sceptical. The number who said they would recall these pundits’ words when making a recommendation has risen from 6 per cent to 11 per cent, but the overwhelmingly most popular answer was that, while they were interesting, the soundbites would not influence the respondent’s recommendations, with 55 per cent.
A significant 30 per cent were less charitable, saying that the topics discussed were inward-looking, self-serving and of little interest, which probably serves us right for including that option.
Finally we asked advisers for their views on the future of the Sipps market. Most found cause for optimism with the 64 per cent stating that the future looked bright broadly in line with last year. However, while a minority, the number who anticipated Sipps as a whole suffering from consumers rushing to exploit the pension freedoms rose slightly from 8 per cent to 10 per cent.
