The product remains popular with clients. A recent survey by FTAdviser sister title Money Management fund underlying growth of 14 per cent in the six months between April and October of this year alone. This is on top of stellar growth in recent years; current estimates put the market at well above £100bn and perhaps even as high as £200bn in size.

And herein lies the problem. The regulator has expressed concern in the past that clients are being effectively churned into Sipps that charge more but offer little in terms of promised flexibility. It is also clearly worried about the increasing use of Sipps to house esoteric and illiquid investments that all too often go to the wall and cost clients dearly.

As a result of this scrutiny, the Sipps sector has been subject to a number of regulatory interventions and probes in recent years. Just last month a third thematic review in six years was launched, while new disclosure rules came into force in April and new capital adequacy rules are expected to be finalised before the end of the year.

This special report will take a detailed look at the changes that have come in this year, the changes that are still yet to come and the likely outcome of the latest regulatory review, in order to examine how the Sipps market has evolved as a result of the new rules and how it is likely to be affected by regulatory shifts that are coming in the future.

This special report is sponsored by James Hay Partnership. All editorial is independent.