Andy Zanelli, head of technical consultancy, AXA Wealth, says: “Following strong Q1 company AUM growth to £20.1bn, AXA Wealth’s family SIPP, Family Suntrust, has reached a milestone of 600 schemes, with an average case value of £726,000.
"Family Suntrust is a specialist product offering investment freedom to groups of individuals - families or business partners - enabling them to pool their assets and build a tax-efficient pension fund with one common investment strategy. Our feedback suggests that small businesses in particular welcome this type of product as it provides the opportunity to purchase business premises and hold them within the SIPP.”
 
AXA Wealth says that issues of longevity and market volatility are making people look for new strategies for their retirement planning, for example, individuals can pool together with a minimum investment of £200,000, invest via:
·        AXA Wealth’s ‘RDR-ready’ Elevate platform which includes access to the Architas range of funds
·        a discretionary fund manager offering access to stocks, shares and collective investments
·        UK commercial property
·        other investments including offshore and onshore bonds and trustee investment plans with us or another provider.
 
Family Suntrust can offer a number of features for certain groups and individuals. The use of a scheme pension can give alternative flexibility of income options when compared with traditional drawdown or annuity, and in some circumstances can even be higher. This can be particularly advantageous to those in poor health and could be combined with some distinct death benefit options to provide a truly compelling solution for clients looking to preserve the amount passed on at death, says AXA Wealth. These benefits, along with the advantages of pooled investments, cost efficient property purchase and inter-generational planning, should make this type of pension part of the advice process for a wide range of high net worth clients, according to the company.