A consultation is set to launch looking at options to tackle pension scams and making it harder for scammers to abuse SSAS or Small Self-Administered Schemes.
The Chancellor announced the move this week in the Autumn Statement with the Government assessing whether to ban cold calling in relation to pensions and give firms greater powers to block suspicious transfers.
But Anthony Carty, group Financial Planning and business development director at Clifton Asset Management, is worried that SSAS could become an unnecessary victim of well-intended future legislation.
He said: “It absolutely makes sense that the Chancellor is protecting vulnerable people from the 250 million scam calls they receive each year.
“But, whilst it is prudent to hand extra powers to pension providers to block transfers of savings to suspicious operations, we do need to avoid genuine entrepreneurial investors being discouraged from using flexible pensions such as SSAS - as they can be a highly effective pension, tax and estate planning tool for the business owner.”
He said: “It has been common for business owners to set up a SSAS and hold their premises - whether offices or factories - in the pension in order to benefit from the tax-free income and growth on the property, but an increasing number of businesses are now using the flexibility of a SSAS to invest in their own business – funding it to boost growth.”
He also called for a return to the legal requirement to have a professionally qualified and regulated professional trustee on every SSAS.
He said this would be a “step in the right direction”, adding, as a matter of course, all of his firm’s SSAS clients benefit from a professional trustee and administrator.
Mr Carty also features in the latest Financial Planning Today magazine, giving his top tips on finding and retaining clients. Read the feature here