Barnett Waddingham's head of Sipp business development, Andy Leggett, says the FCA's latest guide for Sipps operators - FG13/8 - needs to be taken seriously by the advisers when it comes to due diligence.
He says this is particularly true when it comes to decisions on unregulated investments and unregulated introducers.
Mr Leggett said: "There is a significant focus in FG13/8 on unregulated investments and unregulated introducers. The FCA set out their expectations of the systems, controls and management information that SIPP operators should maintain to monitor the situation; the same goes for due diligence on the individual investments themselves.
He believes some Sipp operates have reversed their positions on unorthodox investments.
He said: "As certain Sippp operators have done an abrupt about-turn on non-standard investments, perhaps particularly influenced by the potential capital adequacy implications rather than the thematic review, it may be tempting to see FG13/8 as closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. However, we believe it would be quite wrong to dismiss the paper. The more guidance the FCA give, the better the industry will become. It should also be most useful to advisers as they consider which operators they wish to work with.
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He warns advisers to beware of historical issues which may affect some operators in the long run, he believes. Assessing risk will be key, he says.
He said: "The FCA's paper is another look behind the scenes which, along with the thematic review itself and other papers such as the Kevin Wells Final Notice, will be invaluable in conducting genuinely thorough due diligence. Clearly advisers will only want to entrust their clients' long-term savings with operators that pass muster but this is not enough. An operator may have put its house in order but advisers must ask what went before. A sound process for new business does nothing to tackle issues built up previously. A better analogy might be bolting the city gates after the Trojan Horse has been wheeled inside.

"Alongside the hard facts such as where historic growth came from and the balance of investments in the overall portfolio the operator administers, soft criteria such as the operator's history, its culture and the relative weight it places on quality versus quantity will help identify where risks lie."