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Suffolk Life has said that the first quarter was it best ever, due to strong sales of its new MasterSipp product.

Suffolk Life said it has seen its business go from strength to strength in 2008 on the back of continuing strong MasterSipp sales driven by investor demand for a product that allows the self-investment of protected rights. It also reported that new Sipp applications in the first quarter were up by more than 10 per cent on the comparable period in 2007.

Including self-invested fund business that it administers on behalf of its insurance company business partners, new applications up to the end of March exceeded 850 - the highest ever figure for a single quarter. More than a third of the new Suffolk Life MasterSipp applications included protected rights.

John Moret, director of sales and marketing for Suffolk Life, said: "We had an exceptionally strong first quarter in 2007 - which marked the end of the first year after pensions simplification - and are very pleased to see that the number of new applications this year exceeded that level. This appears to buck the trend reported by some other Sipp providers. Although there was increased activity in property-related Sipps as a result of the capital gains tax changes we put most of this sustained growth down to the continuing appeal of our MasterSipp and the ability to self invest protected rights."

Mr Moret added that advisers should not delay reviewing their clients' holdings in protected rights until the department of work and pensions consultation in this area – particularly now that the tax year end is out of the way.

He said: "Feedback from advisers makes it clear that the ability to combine protected and non-protected rights under one easy to manage product is an appealing proposition."