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It’s only taken 25 years for personal pensions to become personal

Back in the 1980’s Personal Pensions was the brand new buzzword. Some even called them Portable Personal Pension Plans which was perhaps a ‘P’ too far, and we were told they were revolutionary and the best thing since sliced bread.

In reality they were dull old things. It was just a re-branding exercise. Insurance companies blew the dust off the self-employed contracts they had sold to butchers, bakers and lighting consultants since the early 50’s. Despite the smart new name all the customer got was an insurance policy, with nil investment freedom and top secret charges even James Bond couldn’t penetrate.

Then in 1989 we got Self-Invested Personal Pensions or SIPPs, which ushered in an era of far greater promise. Now you could invest in almost anything except houses and sure enough some SIPP providers entered into this new adventurous spirit but many others didn’t extend investment beyond their own products so in effect guess what you still got – an insurance policy! 

And even some of the bolder companies have now turned full circle, their creeping conservatism allowing investment freedom only so far, and charges in the small print not on the tin. The SIPP might have had your name on it but it was never quite yours.

So what do Liberty do? We provide a box to put your treasures in. You choose the contents and bestow loving care upon them, because a Liberty Pension isn’t Liberty’s – it’s your very own. This is what brings pensions fizzing into life.

Only our fees are boring. They hold no mystery. What you see is what you pay.

Now’s the time to speak to Liberty’s Anti-Boredom Department and inject some zing.

The opinions in the above blog are Bill Barnfield’s and are not those of the Directors and shareholders of Liberty SIPP Limited or Liberty Trustees Limited.

Mar 21, 2011