British consumers approaching retirement who have put their money into self invested pension plans (Sipps) need to ensure that their product is carefully managed to avoiding losing out, one industry commentator has suggested.

Bestinvest, an independent adviser which focuses on the pensions sector, has stated that there is a danger that investors could be putting too much of their funds into high-risk emerging markets, leaving them open to loss if such markets fail.

Justin Modray, adviser at the firm, comments: "A Sipp is simply a wrapper… What you put in there will determine how well [it performs]."

He suggested that having a spread of investment across sectors such as commercial properties, the stock market and common bonds was a more secure way of making sure that the pensions system worked well.

"If you're fairly nervous about [investing] then perhaps stick to a stakeholder pension," he added.

Meanwhile, the firm has published a study suggesting that the number of underperforming "dog funds" has nearly doubled in the last 18 months, due to more volatile conditions on the stock market.