Five star Defaqto rating for Aviva Sipp

Aviva's self-invested personal pension (Sipp) has achieved a five-star Defaqto rating.

The Defaqto rating is a mark of excellence that focuses on the overall quality of the financial product and the benefits to customers.

The Aviva Sipp was re-opened to new business in January 2010 following extensive testing and research with financial advisers and clients, and is part of Aviva's strategy to enhance its suite of individual pension products.

New features of the Sipp include:

Reduced minimum transfer contribution of £50,000
Improved technology including enhanced investment profiles and automated fund rebalancing
Angela Seymour-Jackson, intermediary and partnerships director at Aviva, said:

"A five-star accreditation from Defaqto is an independent mark of quality and recognises the strength and breadth of product features. It offers extra reassurance to advisers that they are dealing with a top-rated product from a financially strong provider, and makes a recommendation more straightforward. The rating helps customers assess the quality of the product being recommended by their adviser.

"Sipp sales account for more than a third of personal pensions sales. Aviva is already a leader in individual personal pensions and our aim is to become a leading player in the Sipp market. We have a Sipp and administration platform that is proven, robust and ideally placed to help advisers meet the challenges posed by the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

"These changes underline Aviva's commitment to independent financial advisers and follow the successful launch of Aviva's Adviser Academy, Future Adviser programme, and Aviva for Advisers portal."