A 90/10 SSAS is rare, as it is a historical fund, but Yorssas still offers the type of scheme – as well as full and hybrid options.
Future of the market
What the future of the SSAS market holds remains to be seen. But Talbot & Muir’s Ms Trott says it could be strong. “I can see the benefits of SSAS continuing to be recognised wider and wider in the adviser space or for family businesses wanting to buy their commercial premises within a scheme.” She adds that the pension reforms place SSASs in a great light for the flexibility of benefits and succession planning that is now even greater with the death benefits options introduced in 2014/15.
“Often SSASs are set up for a family-run company and hold the company premises. This historically could have caused a really big issue on death because it would possibly mean the property would either need to be bought back by the company to pay the death benefits or even sold to a third party. The ability to nominate non-dependants to continue to receive an income (even if nil is taken), rather than having to sell assets to get death benefits, means they have a longer shelf life for the company, removing the additional burden on the company at a time that will be traumatic enough,” she explains.
She adds younger members can join the scheme, making contributions while older members can draw income, making it very flexible without impacting the stability of the core assets. This, Ms Trott says, gives a great way to help plan the future of the company and provide a long-term savings vehicle that can cascade down the generations.
Mark Canning, head of business development at Yorssas, also believes that there are opportunities when it comes to succession planning. “We believe that the SSAS market is buoyant at present and is experiencing a significant upturn in interest. We believe this is primarily driven by increased awareness of ‘pension-led business funding’ options, coupled with enhanced succession planning opportunities brought about by the pension freedoms changes earlier in the year.”
Freedom to flourish
The pension freedoms are a key area where SSASs may flourish. But can also bring a burden. Jeff Owens, a partner at Bespoke, says “The new pension freedoms have taken up much of our time this year. We have had to explain the relevance of those many changes to individual clients and prepare the way to update all client scheme rules and governing documentation to ensure that clients can take advantage of the new freedoms as and when appropriate.”
However, after an “initial flurry” of enquiries, Mr Owens says he has had fewer than expected clients wishing to withdraw substantial parts of their funds under flexi-access.
