↑Part of: SSAS pension

What can a SSAS invest in

A Small Self-Administered Scheme has far wider investment powers than a personal pension or standard workplace scheme. Permitted investments include commercial property, employer loanbacks, listed equities, bonds, and a range of alternative assets. Residential property is prohibited. This guide covers the full range of SSAS-permitted investments and the key HMRC restrictions.

Reviewed June 2026 · 9 minute read

Invest your pension at your discretion in asset classes including:

  • Property
  • Gold
  • Stocks & Shares
  • Unconnected third-party businesses

What can a SSAS pension invest in?

If you are a company director, legislation afforded to you means you can access your pension funds at any age and invest them at your own discretion in any HMRC allowable investments. But what can a SSAS pension invest in? SSAS pension investments can include everything other pensions can invest in and much more. Unlike traditional pensions, you do not have to rely upon the volatile stocks and shares market and the decisions made by your pension providers. Company Directors are allowed, within HMRC rules, to make many different types of allowable SSAS investments.

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Additional Benefits

There are many additional benefits to the SSAS pension, including enviable tax relief strategy options, business growth strategies including the ‘loanback’ facility, and much more.

What can a SIPP pension invest in?

A Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) offers investment flexibility for individuals who are not company directors — it does not require membership of a company scheme. However, a SIPP does not give members trustee status over the fund, cannot hold multiple members in a single employer scheme, and — unlike a SSAS — cannot make a loanback to the sponsoring company. The ability to lend up to 50% of the scheme's net assets back to the employer is exclusive to a SSAS and is one of the most distinctive advantages of the structure for company directors.

Both the SIPP and the SSAS can make many different types of investments including:

  • Commercial Property
  • Green Investments
  • Gold
  • Shares
  • Agricultural Land
  • Loans to an unconnected third party
  • Loans to the company
  • Unit trusts
  • Gilts
  • Industrial units

…plus many more investment asset classes, by using private or former employer pensions.

A SSAS pension is the most flexible and effective business and property pension…
and was created exclusively for company directors in the UK. With a SSAS pension, you have access to every type of investment that is permitted according to the rules set out by HMRC. The flexibility afforded to you by a SSAS pension is reflected in the vast range of investment options it offers.

TLPI are business, property and investments pensions experts,
specialising in SSAS pension solutions. As your SSAS scheme administrator, TLPI works directly with you to structure investments that meet HMRC rules and your objectives. With such a variety of investments at your disposal and investment returns to benefit from, a guide to your options when it comes to investing with a SSAS pension is an ideal place to start when looking for the best pension investments. When looking at how to create your own pension, the asset classes that you would like to invest in and the options for managing your own pension, the SSAS is second to none. What a SSAS can invest in might surprise you!

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FAQs

SSAS investment questions

Yes. Commercial property is one of the most popular SSAS investments. The scheme can buy offices, warehouses, retail units, industrial buildings, hotels, and other non-residential premises. Rental income received by the SSAS is free of Income Tax; capital gains on disposal are free of Capital Gains Tax inside the scheme. The SSAS can also lease commercial property back to the sponsoring employer at a market rent.

Yes, under the loanback rules. A SSAS can lend up to 50% of its net scheme assets to the sponsoring employer. The loan must be secured by a first legal charge on an asset of equal value, charged at an interest rate at least 1% above the average base rate of six clearing banks, and repaid in equal annual instalments over a maximum of five years.

Yes. A SSAS can hold listed equities, unit trusts, OEICs, investment trusts, gilts, and corporate bonds, as well as cash deposits. The scheme can hold shares in the sponsoring employer, but this is limited to 5% of the scheme assets to comply with the connected party investment restrictions.

A SSAS cannot directly hold residential property — this is the main restriction. It also cannot hold tangible moveable property (cars, fine art, antiques, jewellery, vintage wines) as an investment asset. High-risk unregulated collective investment schemes and certain derivatives may also be restricted. HMRC publishes guidance on what constitutes an unauthorised investment under PTM125000.

Discuss your SSAS investment strategy

A free, no-obligation call with a SSAS specialist. We will walk through the investment options available in your scheme and how they fit your business goals.

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