Rise of the vanilla SIPP

It was a decision that was supposed to revolutionise adviser choice. “We were probably unique in the way we addressed the SIPP market,” said Hugo Thorman, managing director of wrap platform Ascentric, “unique in the way that we didn’t have one”. Instead, the group allowed advisers to write business with third party SIPP providers, who sprung up following ‘A-Day’ in 2006, when a change in regulation meant anyone could effectively become a provider as long as they gained Financial Services Authority (FSA) approval. But that didn’t work out like most expected. Ascentric launched its o...