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Ms Stewart said that selling the shares into a self-invested pension and making an in specie contribution meant that as the shares recovered in value, there would be no capital gains tax to pay on the increases. This was because the investor will have paid the tax when they sold the shares to the Sipp.

She said: "With the market volatility, investors are holding shares that have gone down in value. By making an in specie contribution the CGT liability can be lower and there is no tax to pay on the increase in value of the shares as it is in the pension."

Mark Andrews, managing director of Manchester-based IFA Purplecircle Consulting, said that putting shares into a pension depended on the client's needs, including how long the investor held the shares, the level of tax they paid and how much availability there was in their CGT annual allowance.

He said: "You have to look at it in a holistic way. Putting shares in a CGT-exempt environment like the Sipp is allowed under current legislation, but this could change.

"You are restricting what you do when it comes to taking your benefits. A pension scheme is one of the methods of providing for retirement, you can diversify you assets by putting money into an Isa and equities."