It means that total AUM has broken the billion pound mark for the first time in the firm’s history.
As of 1 April 2017, the provider was administrating £1.45bn ($1.8bn, €1.7bn) in 8,647 individual Sipps.
Over the year, 2,652 new clients opened Sipps with Liberty Sipp, a 45% increase on the April 2016 figure.
Liberty Sipp said one key reason for the growth has been the sharp rise in the number of UK financial advisers it works with, which has risen 53% to 535 firms.
The provider currently offers just one product, the Liberty Option Sipp, which it describes as “low-cost and highly transparent”.
Matthew Rankine, director of sales and marketing at Liberty Sipp, said breaking through the billion pound mark had been “both a milestone and a challenge” for the firm.
Speaking to International Adviser, he said: “We haven’t spent much in marketing but over the past year we have grown as a sales team, we’ve got good connections with investment companies and people just like what we do. We have a very simple process.”
Qrops 25% charge
Rankine added that the recent decision by the UK to slap at 25% tax charge on overseas pension transfers is likely to boost the UK Sipps market.
“Any region where clients are less likely to transfer into a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (Qrops) but are still looking for flexibility in investing their UK pensions, then a Sipp will be an attractive option,” he said.
Mike Morrison, head of platform technical at AJ Bell, agrees that Sipp providers may benefit from the new Qrops charge.
“Some people who have been advised to go into Qrops will now decide not to. The beneficiaries will be UK personal pensions but those looking for the sort variety available under Qrops then the big beneficiaries could well be Sipp providers,” he told IA.
