Self-invested personal pension (Sipp) provider Liberty Sipp has reported rapidly increasing client numbers months after being in the news for links to two suspected pension scams.
Liberty opened 3,618 Sipps in the 12 months to April, twice as many as in the year before, and now administers 11,904 Sipps, the provider said today (12 April).
It said it clocked its fastest ever period of growth in the past year, adding £1.2bn to its assets under management, which have reached £2.64bn.
The firm said the growth followed a surge in adviser recommendations - it currently works with 730 advisers - and Liberty’s continued investment in people, processes and technology.
Liberty offers just one product, the Liberty Option Sipp, which was introduced in 2013 and charges no set up fee and an annual management fee of £175 plus VAT.
The increase in clients suggested Liberty has shaken off a difficult few months, after it was found to have allowed some unsavory investments onto its platform.
In November a BBC Radio programme alleged the provider had allowed millions of pounds of pension money enter its Sipps to be invested in Gravity Childcare, a company now in liquidation, which has been accused of recklessly mismanaging pensioner money, accusations it has denied.
Gravity told pension investors in 2012 they would make 19 per cent in guaranteed returns if they lent them their pensions for five years to build homes for children in care, funded by local authorities.
It promised all the money would be paid back to investors by the end of this year. But that hasn’t happened, and only two houses were ever built, the BBC reported.
Liberty Sipp also has investors holding money in Ethical Forestry Ltd, which is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office and, according to Companies House, is in liquidation.
But the company denies any wrongdoing in both cases and said it has stopped taking esoteric investments into its books.
A spokesperson said: “[Liberty] don’t see this as a case of wrongdoing. There were a few non-standard investments that clients have made in the past but that has gone.
“They haven’t taken any non-standard investments since 2013. Now 96 per cent of the assets under management are standard, a figure that is growing every year.”
Liberty Sipp launched in 2007. In the 12 months to April 2017, the company grew its revenues 39 per cent to £2.1m and made an operating profit of £424,000.
Matthew Rankine, director of sales and marketing at Liberty Sipp, said: “Liberty’s fastest ever period of growth is both a source of pride and an inspiration for us to do even better.
“This is a huge achievement but we’re determined to build on the strength that got us here – our reputation for offering a personal, fast and efficient service.
“We’ve invested in both technology and people, allowing us to handle much greater numbers of clients while maintaining the personal touch that makes Liberty distinctive – and which is the reason so many financial advisers now choose to work with us.”
carmen.reichman@ft.com
