Want some good news for a change? SIPPs. Apart from the small number of toxic ones SIPPs, since their launch over three decades ago, have been a major and often unreported success story.

In March 1990, then Chancellor Nigel Lawson (Nigella’s dad) pressed the button to herald the launch of the first Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP).

After a slow start in the early 1990s they began to take off with James Hay leading the way.

In recent years SIPPs, or rather a small number of more risky plans, have become tarnished mainly due to the ropey investments added to them by third party advisers but that should not cloud the picture: SIPPs are a remarkable success story.

There are now well over 1.5m SIPP plans in existence, perhaps nearly 2m. Accurate figures are hard to come by. Most are well managed and run and have grown steadily.

Many of SIPP investors have been successful in managing their SIPPs. So successful, in fact, that many are millionaires.

Hargreaves Lansdown counts over 3,000 SIPP millionaires, with more to come no doubt. Most of them, 9 in 10, are men but this will no doubt change over the coming years as women accrue their own wealth.

In our next issue of Financial Planning Today magazine, out shortly, we look at the implications of the pivotal Carey v Adams court judgement which could spell trouble for some SIPP providers. In essence the judgement removes the ‘get out of jail’ card some SIPP firms have used to avoid responsibility for riskier investments shoved into SIPP 'shells' by third party advisers.

The judgement could open the floodgates to more compensation claims but most likely this will affect only a small number of SIPP providers, some of who have already failed.

As you can read in the magazine, the judgement has vexed the experts considerably but it’s worth remembering that many of these high risk investments were added to some SIPPs between 2010 and 2014, a decade ago. Some (not Carey Pensions) were related to frauds and some invested in what can only be described as Wild West investments pushed by cowboys. 

Several smaller SIPP firms have gone bust, often as a result of holding risky investments which turned toxic or just, in some cases, being badly run.

Looking back this does negate the huge influence and success of SIPPs which have given many pension holders exactly what they wanted: control of their pension, major flexibility and an ability to keep close watch on their investments at all times. 

In many ways SIPPs and ISAs have opened up a new era in individuals taking control of their finances and investments. 

By the way, I'm no unfettered cheer leader for the SIPPs sector. They are not perfect. Charges can be too high, regulation has been weak at times, there have been too many failures and too many rogues have become involved in the sector.

But while the court judgement and bad publicity in recent times have tarnished SIPPs we should not lose sight of the fact that for many people they are exactly what they wanted when it comes to pensions and, toxic investments aside, many have done remarkably well.

SIPPs represent a pension success story and it's a shame more people do not recognise that they have provided a level of pension control of which previous generations could only have dreamed.

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Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and a journalist with 40 years of experience in finance, business and mainstream news. This topical comment on the Financial Planning news appears most weeks, usually on Fridays but occasionally other days. Follow @FPT_Kevin