The Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes (AMPS), the industry body for SIPP and SSAS providers, has selected Andrew Phipps, senior propositions manager at Embark Group, as its new chairman.

The appointment, and other committee member changes, were confirmed at AMPS' recent AGM.

At the AGM Debbie Seaton of SeaBridge SSAS was appointed honorary secretary and three others were named chair of the compliance, technical and legal sub-committees.

AMPS has more than 120 member firms including SIPP providers, SSAS practitioners, pension lawyers, software developers, banks and investment houses. Members include some of the largest pension providers as well as a number of boutique firms.

AMPS is run by a committee elected from representatives of member firms. The committee makes representations on behalf of the member-directed pensions industry to Government bodies such as HMRC, Treasury, FCA and DWP.

AMPS also provides support to members by regular news posts, summary newsletters, open meetings, workshops and an annual conference.

Mr Phipps said: “It is an honour to take on the role of chair of AMPS from Martin Tilley, and I thank Martin for expertly steering us through the last 12 months which, like recent years, has seen a lot of activity in the SIPP and SSAS market.

“The self invested pensions market is evolving at a fast pace and remains an important market for many entrepreneurs, small business owners and clients wanting to have greater flexibility and control of their pension investments. We have an engaged membership that want to do the best for the sector and I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with them to address the challenges and opportunities faced by our members.”
 
AMPs has also made a number of appointments to its sub committees and says these groups will be important in dealing with challenges such as the FCA’s new Consumer Duty and changes to financial regulation.
 
The chairs of the groups appointed at the AGM are:   
• Jon Cuin, chair of Compliance Subcommittee. He works at Barnett Waddingham 
• Sarah Hawkins, chair of Technical Subcommittee. She works at Punter Southall 
• Jade Murray, chair of Legal Subcommittee. She work at Addleshsaw Goodard 
 
The full committee comprises 8 representatives from across the industry:
• Andrew Phipps, chair of AMPS, works at Embark Group 
• Debbie Seaton, honorary secretary of AMPS, works for SeaBridge SSAS
• Tas Ul Haq, honorary treasurer of AMPS, works for Aviva
• Joy West, membership secretary, works for Hartsfield Trustee
• Samina Kausar, committee member, works for Seccl
• Chair of Compliance Subcommittee - Jon Cuin of Barnett Waddingham 
• Chair of Technical Subcommittee - Sarah Hawkins of Punter Southall 
• Chair of Legal Subcommittee - Jade Murray of Addleshsaw Goodard