Some self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) are requiring minimum investments into insured funds, meaning they are not truly open, it has been suggested.

David Dalton-Brown, head of Fidelity FundsNetwork, said that while there are more pensions choices, investors were not reaping the full benefits.

His comments were based on Fidelity’s analysis of Defaqto figures and revealed that 14 per cent of the 72 Sipp providers listed have a contract which demands a minimum investment into the company insurance scheme.

“Investors should be free to choose where they invest their Sipp and take advantage of the benefits that a truly open Sipp can offer,” Mr Dalton-Brown said.

Defaqto recently said that almost 50 per cent of Sipps providers “offer a defined link to fund platforms in their propositions to aid mutual fund trading”.

This indicated a trend against full flexibility and towards packaged propositions, the company’s principle consultant Matt Ward concluded.

Find out more about Sipps

©Adfero Ltd