Royal London and Aviva continued to hold their positions as the most recommended personal pension and SIPP providers by advisers in the first half of this year.

The Royal London Pension Portfolio retained its position as the most recommended personal pension provider, with 29% of adviser recommendations in the first half of 2025, according to new data from Defaqto.

Top 10 recommended personal pension products in H1 2025

Source: Defaqto, September 2025

When it came to the most important criteria for rating personal pension products, AKG financial strength rating remained the most popular factor for advisers. This was followed by functionality and client-focused features such as online access and flexi-access drawdown.

The SIPP market remained buoyant in the first half, with 117 schemes from 82 providers.

Top 10 recommended SIPPs in H1 2025

Source: Defaqto, September 2025

Advisers continued to place the greatest emphasis on AKG financial strength ratings, followed by suitability criteria aligned with COBS 19.2, such as target market compatibility and client functionality.

Richard Hulbert, insight consultant at Defaqto, said: “The dominance of Aviva and Standard Life is quite notable, especially as Aviva has attracted an additional 3.2% market share in the last six months. To illustrate this, when we add the recommendations for both AJ Bell Investcentre pensions together, they would still not improve on their third position overall.”

The data was taken from Defaqto Engage, a financial planning tool which Defaqto claims is used by over 30% of advisers. Over 64,000 personal pension and SIPP recommendations were made through the tool in the first half of the year.