Sipps have been in the headlines for many months, as one of the unintended consequences of pension freedoms.

While many are able to access their pension pot, some have unwittingly been lured into investing their life's savings via a Sipp into a risky investment, something for which many are completely unsuited for.

As a result, the Sipp name has become tarnished, even if this is somewhat unfair. 

The product is after all simply a tax wrapper; it is the investments that unknowledgable clients are being led to that is causing all the problems, and forcing adviser levies to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to increase.

There have been efforts to clamp down on this bad behaviour: the FCA forces Sipp companies to hold more cash for complex investments, and many will not take instruction from unregulated introducers, the individuals that have caused a lot of the problems.

There are also new companies coming into the market, with very simple low cost wrappers, that might give the sector a much needed boost.

This guide hopes to draw out some of these issues, and is worth an indicative 60 minutes' CPD.