When it comes to investing a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), many appreciate the passive income prospects that can be offered by dividend shares. Here are a trio of UK shares, each currently yielding over 5%, that I think merit SIPP consideration.

Legal & General

The FTSE 100’s highest-yielding share at the moment is financial services firm Legal & General (LSE: LGEN). Its 7% yield is already exciting enough. But on top of the current yield’s juiciness, things could get even better. That is because the company aims to keep growing its dividend annually. The latest dividend increase was announced just this week.

No dividend is ever guaranteed to last and there are risks here. Legal & General’s policyholders may pull out more than they invest if the market tumbles, hurting earnings. That may not seem like much of a risk in today’s buoyant market, but bear in mind that Legal & General was riding high in 2007 before the financial crisis hit and the dividend was cut.

Still, it has not been cut since then and I see a lot to like now.

This week’s results demonstrated yet again the company’s strong cash generation capabilities, helped by its large customer base and deep financial expertise.

Victrex

The FTSE 100 is not the only place to hunt for high yields, of course. FTSE 250 chemicals firm Victrex (LSE: VCT) has had a difficult few years, with demand in higher margin business areas like medical lower than before. 

That remains a risk. While the 7.3% dividend yield is juicy, the payout is at risk as it has been uncovered in recent years. This year’s interim dividend of 13.4p per share was the same as recent years, for example, but the company reported a loss of 37p per share.

However, I reckon things could be turning a corner. Both sales volumes and revenues grew in the first half. The most recently reported quarter was even stronger, with revenues up 18% year-on-year and sales volumes 17%.

Those are strong numbers. Their closeness to each other suggests that Victrex may be overcoming its recent challenge of revenues growing much slower than volumes, suggesting a more profitable product mix.

With strong sales momentum, proprietary polymer technology and an established client base, I think the Victrex share price looks cheap even now, having already grown 25% this year.

M&G

Back to the FTSE 100 for the third income share of the trio, asset manager M&G (LSE: MNG). One benefit of using a SIPP is that it can effectively force investors to think for the long term.

Over the longer period, M&G has certainly performed. Over the past five years, the M&G share price has grown 54%. That is exactly in line with the performance of the FTSE 100 over that period.

Where M&G has thrashed the index though, is when it comes to dividends. The yield is currently 5.6%, while at the moment the index of leading UK shares offers a 3.1% yield.

With a strong brand and millions of customers, I think M&G could keep doing well.

One risk is policyholders pulling out more funds than they invest. M&G has struggled with that in recent years but lately has seen a net inflow of funds.

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Christopher Ruane owns shares in Victrex.