A year has yet to pass since April 2016, and it is still not clear how much the pension freedoms have affected the SSAS market. However, if the figures from 2015 are anything to go by, the market is still slowly growing, albeit not at the pace of Sipps. One way around this could involve being clear on cost from the beginning and making sure advisers know that SSASs are not as complicated as they once were.
SSASs can make up a solid foundation for retirement planning, particularly for those wishing to invest in commercial property and clients who want a good succession planning base. So regardless of what happens in pensions regulation, SSASs look set to stay.
Note: This article was updated on 29 January 2016 to correct data that had originally been wrongly inputted regarding Rowanmoor.