'Smaller Sipps firms best are placed to adapt to changes'

Smaller Sipp firms will be best placed to meet the challenges ahead in the sector over the coming year, the managing director of Liberty Sipp believes. John Fox has hit back at suggestions from some in and around the sector that a struggle may lie ahead for the smaller players as regulatory pressures intensify.A number of experts told sister publication Financial Planner magazine they expected consolidation to happen at an increasing pace over the next year, making it hard for the smaller providers.The regulator looks set to take an ever closer eye on the sector following the capital adequacy rule changes and the recent scathing letter to Sipp providers from the FCA.But Mr Fox was unconcerned, saying his firm was in a good position to meet challenges head on. {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile} Asked his views on where the Sipp market will go in the next year and if some of the small players will duck out or the sector will grow, he said: "It's a common mistake to confuse size with how good a Sipp firm is. Bigger is no guarantee of better."Liberty may be small in comparison to many of our rivals, but as a late entrant to the market (2007) we have been able to avoid the mistakes of our older competitors - growing at a steady rate and ensuring that customer service standards don't slip as we take on more customers."While there are Sipp companies with four or five times the number of clients that we have, we know we trounce them in terms of service levels, costs and client retention."When the new pension freedoms come into force next April, it is the smaller providers who will be best placed to adapt their products to meet customer expectations, and the response time that their advisors require."

'Smaller Sipps firms best are placed to adapt to changes'

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