10 reasons IPM add value to your clients

In our recent client survey you told us what aspects of a SIPP provider’s service were important to you.

Recommending a third-party to a client requires you to be confident in the service your client can expect to receive. So, here are ten reasons that we believe we add value to your clients. It’s not a naked sales pitch – just some honest and balanced reasons you can be confident to recommend IPM.

1. Stable and secure

Following a number of high-profile SIPP failures, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen advisers take more and more of an interest in how SIPP providers are run.

In our recent client survey, 50.1% of respondents said that the capital adequacy of a SIPP provider was an important consideration when looking at which provider to work with. 45.3% rate this as an important factor.

Choosing a stable and secure SIPP provider means you can be confident in your recommendation. We believe that this security is achieved through a cautious approach to new business and through financial prudence:

We are profitable and hold over 180% of the minimum amount of regulatory capital required, all in Tier 1 capital (i.e. cash). This enables us to offer a cost-effective and transparent flat fee structure (see below).
Over the years we have always been cautious about the assets we allow members to hold, and we have not dealt with non-regulated advisers. This ensures we have not been affected by the issues which have dogged other SIPP providers.

2. Independent ownership

As we are privately owned, we are never under pressure from external investors to hit ambitious growth or revenue targets. Our shareholders have no other business interests; all that we offer is a SIPP administration service.

You benefit from the peace of mind that we’ll always do what is right for members and advisers, and to ensure our business is secure for the long term.

3. Experience and expertise

We’re SIPP specialists. In fact, it’s all we do! We recently celebrated our 20^th birthday and, over two decades, there isn’t much we haven’t seen. This means you and your clients benefit from decades of experience and expertise.

We are proud to have a high staff retention rate, with over 60% of our team being with us for ten years or more. This not only gives comfort to clients and advisers in terms of the knowledge of our staff, but it also allows you to build relationships with individuals.

Give us a try! If you have a technically challenging case, or a client whose circumstances are complex, please get in touch.

4. A personal approach

In a world which is ever-increasing towards automation, our advisers suggest that personable service and support is still one of the most important things when working with a SIPP provider. In our recent survey, 74.6% of respondents suggested this is very important.

This plays into IPM’s strengths as this one of the key aspects of our service. We don’t have a call centre fielding client calls, or a sales team pressuring you to place business with us. Instead, you’ll find an experienced and technically adept team who thrive on building up personal relationships with all our advisers.

5. Flat fee structure

Unsurprisingly, fees still play a big part of an adviser’s consideration to work with certain providers. Just 3.5% of our recent survey respondents deemed fees to be ‘not important’.

Our flat fee structure has been designed to make life easy for you and your clients. We charge an annual administration fee of £540 plus VAT. This flat fee helps to make us very competitive when compared to other providers who charge based on the value of the SIPP.

We don’t charge any additional fees to:

Make contributions
Establish the SIPP
Transfer pensions in (including most in-specie transfers)
Move money to/from the trustee bank account
Deal with routine enquiries
Make non-property related standard investments

6. Highly rated

We have held the five-star Moneyfacts rating for the last four years.

Moneyfacts is the UK’s leading provider of financial data and their star ratings are an impartial annual assessment of the technical merits of SIPP providers. Their assessment is made following detailed analysis of up to 50 different factors including the charges, investment flexibility and feedback from the industry.

In our recent survey, you told us that this independent assessment of quality and five-star rating made it 30.1% more likely that you would recommend us to your clients.

7. Property specialists

Over the last two decades, we’ve become experts in purchasing commercial property and land through SIPPs. Indeed, a large proportion of the SIPPs we administer directly own property. We’re also highly experienced at transferring a SSAS or SIPP when a property is involved.

Unlike many other providers, we don’t charge an additional annual fee when a property is owned. Furthermore, group property purchases incur no additional fees either.

Read: SIPP property purchase – 6 traps to avoid

8. Investment flexibility

You’ve told us that SIPP members expect investment flexibility and so that’s what we provide.

We take a sensible and pragmatic approach and assess all investments on their merits. Where your clients request an investment into a non-standard asset, we will always carefully consider such a request, taking into account the investment itself and associated counterparties.

We also consider the client’s SIPP and wider circumstances, in conjunction with their regulated financial adviser, before making a final decision.

9. Working with overseas clients

As the world gets smaller and our client base matures, we’re increasingly looking after clients who no longer live in the UK.

These days, a client’s career can easily take them to several different countries or clients decide to enjoy their retirement outside of the UK. So, it is not unusual for IPM to have SIPP clients who live (or have lived in) a wide range of countries and have accumulated, or are accumulating, UK pension benefits.

We can continue to meet your client’s needs, even if they live overseas.

10. Sensible approach to deposit accounts

Many of your clients, especially those in retirement or with larger funds, often want to hold money on deposit. This can often necessitate the use of multiple deposit accounts.

We place no restrictions on the type of account which can be opened, or the regulated institutions a member can use.

As an additional benefit, we do not increase our annual fee where a member opens multiple deposit accounts. It remains at £540 plus VAT per year, irrespective of the number of deposit accounts your client holds.

Get in touch

If you have any SIPP-related queries, or if you have any clients for whom SIPP or SSAS advice would be beneficial, please get in touch. Email info@ipm-pensions.co.uk or call 01438 747 151.