International Adviser reported in May that law firm Anthony Philip James & Co (APJ) alleges that Liberty Sipp is responsible for the mis-selling of Sipps between 2011 and 2013.
APJ said it had notified the courts of 30 cases, which it will seek to consolidate, but the law firm claims it has as many as 700 more investors who claim they have suffered significant losses as a result of unregulated pension investments through Liberty Sipp.
Despite these allegations, Liberty Sipp’s latest annual report for the 12 months to April shows business is going well for the provider.
Business booming
The company, which has £2.95bn in assets under management, made a pre-tax profit of £506,000 in 2017-18, which was a 19% increase on the previous year.
Its revenue had grown by 35%, taking annual turnover to a record £2.86m.
Further, the provider said it now manages 12,800 Sipps and works with 745 advice firms across the UK.
The report said most of this new business has come through a rapidly growing network of partnerships with platforms and discretionary fund managers (DFMs), and through adviser recommendations.
Liberty sales and marketing director Matthew Rankine said: “As fees have come down, Sipps have become a more mainstream product – and are now an essential part of every adviser’s toolkit.
“We’re hugely proud of the progress we’ve made and our record-breaking results are testament to the passion and hard work of our fast-growing team,” Rankine said.
Liberty refutes claims
Liberty Sipp hit back at the claims made by APJ in May, with its managing director John Fox telling International Adviser it has never offered financial advice on the execution-only investments.
“Sipp providers are never regulated to do this, and at no time have regulators required Sipp providers to gauge the suitability of these kinds of investments for specific individuals.
“We look forward to finally being able to lay those misapprehensions to rest,” Fox said.
