Provisions contained in Finance Act 2007 are the first step to the Government abolishing the option of Contracting Out of the State 2nd Pension in the form of Protected Rights benefits. These provisions will primarily affect Contracting Out via an appropriate Personal Pension Scheme and Contracted Out Money Purchase (COMP) Schemes with the likely effective date of 2012. Existing Protected rights funds may remain and more importantly, the proposals remove many of the restrictions imposed on Protected Rights, in particular, investment of funds and it is likely that Protected Rights benefits will shortly be capable of use within Self Invested Personal Pensions without any investment restrictions. It would appear that the only requirements to be imposed upon Protected Rights benefits being the provision of survivor benefits, SIPP administrators will therefore need to ensure that their systems are capable of identifying and tracking such benefits. InvestAcc fully intend to allow Protected Rights transfers into Minerva SIPP as soon as the legislation permits, which could be as early as 2009.
November 19th, 2007
The Minerva SIPP can invest in a wider range of assets including commercial property and land, on an individual or group basis. Any combination of permitted investments may be made within a Minerva SIPP including deposit accounts, DFM, open market platform/wrap accounts, stockbroker accounts and trustee investment plans, all held together within the same SIPP.
SIPP Lite is a lower cost option, for those that do not require multiple investment accounts, or access to commercial property and land at outset. SIPP Lite members are restricted to a maximum of one investment account, to run alongside the default SIPP bank account. This investment account could be another bank account or ONE of the following: stockbroker account, DFM, open market platform/wrap account or a trustee investment plan. For individuals that require additional investments at a later date, including commercial property and land, they can upgrade their SIPP Lite plan to a Minerva SIPP.
A Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) is a type of UK registered pension scheme. Each SSAS is governed by its own trust deed and rules and is a separate legal entity to the sponsoring employer. The sponsoring employer establishes the SSAS and invites members to join. Any individual employed by the sponsoring employer (or a participating employer) may join the scheme and all members are appointed as trustees alongside the professional trustee. SSAS trustees have a very wide range of investment options, including the ability to make secured loans to the sponsoring employer of up to 50% of the net asset value of the scheme, subject to certain conditions.
We have been operating in these markets for over 20 years. The SSAS business was formed in 1997, and in 2003 we launched our flagship product, the Minerva SIPP. The range is completed by SIPP Lite, which has been available since July 2012.
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