Melvin unveils Gaudi amidst 'crowded Sipp market'
A new third-party self-invested personal pension administrator has been launched by Clifton Melvin, the former chief executive of Winterthur Life.
Mr Melvin, chief executive of Gaudi, said it is offering a white labelled product and it is currently talking with wealth managers, pension specialists, networks and regional IFAs.
Gaudi is a fully-online proposition to be launched 1 October. Surrey-based IFA, Informed Choice, is committed to taking up the service for its clients.
Mr Melvin said: "Until today, Sipps, even those purporting to offer online capability, have been hampered by expensive, inefficient legacy IT systems, restrictive investment options and clunky paper-based administration."
Mr Melvin said the Gaudi system will enable IFAs to provide Sipp clients with greater administrative efficiency and flexibility.
The Gaudi launch comes on the heels of Christine Hallett, former chief executive of Pointon York, who launched her own independent pension provider business last month.
Kelly Wheble, a pension specialist for IFA Positive Solutions, said he was surprised more providers were offering Sipps in the market.
He said: "I thought that there would be more consolidation in the market and I am surprised that there are new people coming into the market especially as there are less reasons to use a Sipp.
"I think that the genuine Sipp market will reduce in size of competition from personal pensions and platforms. The only reason to launch a Sipp business is if you had something different to offer."
