IPAs bring flexibility to pensions market

Individual Pension Accounts provide small pension investors with a flexible savings plan. The success of the scheme, however, could be hindered by a lack of Government and pensions specialist action

On 6 April this year, Statutory Instrument 2001/0117 introduced the individual pension account (IPA), which has the potential to offer far greater flexibility to the smaller pension investor and continue the pension sector's revolution set in motion some 12 years ago by self-invested personal pensions (Sipps). To date, Sipps have pulled in some £15bn of UK savings and this figure might well double quite rapidly. But IPAs could do even better because the potential market is so huge. IPAs should appeal to anyone in the UK considering taking out a personal or executive pension policy. ...