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Research carried out by the online investment supermarket has revealed 38 per cent of investors intend to either move their protected rights pot into a Sipp or open a new one in order to do so.

Fidelity found less than 8 per cent of respondents were happy to leave their protected rights money untouched.

David Dalton-Brown, head of Fidelity FundsNetwork, said protected rights presented a big opportunity for advisers.

He said: "Our research shows a lot of protected rights holders are just fed up with the poor returns offered by insurance company funds and, despite the burden of exit charges of up to 25 per cent, want to switch the money into a Sipp.

"More modern vehicles like Sipps not only offer greater control, with a wide range of investment options for example, but they also enable consolidation of holdings, saving time and money and making asset allocation decisions that much easier."

Alex Pegley, director of Hampshire-based IFA Calculis, said while he was not surprised people were disappointed with the performance of their protected rights pots he did not expect the number to be so high.

He said: "The interest in Sipps has been largely media driven for protected rights but it is certainly something we are looking at for some our clients who have got substantial other pots.

"Where before we might not have thought it economical to run a Sipp for a client now we might have £20,000 or £30,000 of protected rights to go with the non-protected rights the numbers work."