Many Ssas providers are members of the Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes (Amps).
In the current climate with the introduction of new capital adequacy requirements, financial strength and security should also be at the top of the check list, believes John Glover, business development manager at City Trustees.
Carl Lamb, managing director of IFA firm Almary Green, agrees and recommends that if your client comes to you looking for advice on which Ssas provider to use, the best help you can give them is to choose a financially strong provider who is committed to the Ssas market.
“I would choose a provider who specialises in just Sipp and Ssas rather than a life office who may walk away from the Ssas market at any given time as so many have.
“Due diligence means looking at the company accounts and meeting the key individuals in the business.
“I would also only look at a provider who has a transparent, fixed fee charging structure and doesn’t levy any percentage charges or profit from property management as so many do.”
There are number of other questions you should ask, advises Lisa Webster, senior technical consultant for Hornbuckle Mitchell.
“Look at the provider’s experience and how many schemes they look after. Do they work on a TCF basis? How much flexibility do they have? Such as choice of investments, insistence on using their suppliers e.g. solicitor for property.
“Also, what roles do they fulfil? Are they just operator – therefore scheme administrator liability still rests with the members – or do they also act as independent trustee and scheme administrator. And what support do they offer the adviser? Do they offer trustee meetings, and if so what charges apply?”
