SSAS specialist Whitehall Group has launched a new self-invested personal pension (SIPP) plan focusing on commercial property and standard assets which it said marks a return to the "original purpose of SIPPs."

The launch is in response to demand from advisers and partly as a result of the FCA's Consumer Duty, the firm said.

Whitehall said the Consumer Duty has given advisers and providers clarity on the necessity of using specific or niche products from the whole of the market to address a client's needs.

Richard Mattison, founding director of Whitehall Group, said: "The launch marks a return to the original purpose of SIPPs – true self-investment such as purchase of commercial property with a personal pension, rather than today's many non-property SIPPs catered for by low-cost investment platforms, that are on offer.”

He said the demand for a genuine SIPP is as high as ever due to the tax advantages of holding bricks and mortar in a pension, “and we see no sign of this changing."

Whitehall Group has developed its own proprietary IT and back and front office systems which provide online and real time facilities to clients and advisers. That allows full control of the product and gives the ability to continually develop and improve the proposition as markets evolve, the firm said.