“Second to none” service – here’s what you told us in our 2024 survey

We’re always keen to find ways to improve the service we provide to all our advisers and planners, and their clients.

So, you may recently have received a link to our 2024 survey asking for an honest assessment of how you rate IPM, how you feel about the SIPP market, and what we can do to improve.

Many thanks to the dozens of you who took some time out to respond. It’s enormously beneficial to us as it allows us to enhance the service we offer to everyone.

Next month, we’ll look at the state of the bespoke SIPP market and share your thoughts on the current landscape.

In the meantime, here are some highlights from the 2024 survey.

Advisers and planners are very happy to refer IPM to clients

We asked: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend IPM to your clients when they need a bespoke SIPP?”

Overwhelmingly, advisers and planners were happy to recommend IPM to clients with an average score of 8.5 (where 0 is “very unlikely” and 10 is “very likely”).

Indeed, 40% of respondents told us it was highly likely they would recommend IPM to clients by rating us 10 out of 10.

You told us:

“Easy to get answers as to whether you will consider a particular proposition and good level of technical knowledge”
“Efficient and strong communication – not the same with other providers”
“[I like] speaking with people who know what they are talking about”
“Good service and simple fee structure”
“Excellent service and high-level knowledge”.

Providing a personal service is something that is very important to us, and so it’s gratifying to see so many respondents cite the level of personal service, and the ease of contact, as key benefits of recommending clients to IPM.

A mixed view on ratings

Of the three main SIPP ratings – Moneyfacts, AKG, and Defaqto – IPM has a five-star Moneyfacts rating.

Interestingly, fewer than half of respondents told us this rating made no difference to the likelihood of them recommending IPM to clients – that is a fall since 2022.

However, 64% said it would make it more likely that they would refer clients to IPM if we had an AKG rating, while 53% would be more likely to refer if we had a Defaqto rating.

You told us:

“Financial strength is important and an AKG rating along with others provides comfort”
“Independent financial strength ratings add to our rationale for IPM being on our panel”
“I would recommend IPM anyway, but it adds more to my rationale”.

These are areas that we are considering, so keep an eye on your inbox for an announcement in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can request a copy of our due diligence pack which gives you details of IPM’s financial strength.

Interest in the Origo pension transfer service

Currently, IPM does not subscribe to the Origo pension transfer service. We asked you if it would make it more likely you’d recommend IPM to clients if we did.

24% said it would make no difference to the likelihood of recommending IPM
37% said it would make it more likely that they would recommend IPM
39% said it would make it significantly more likely that they would recommend IPM.

Origo is an ongoing discussion we have at our office. We regularly review the volume of transfers we receive and the number of these are in-specie as opposed to simply cash, which is where Origo scores highly.

In addition, we are mindful of the impact that the pension transfer regulations of November 2021 have had on transfers into bespoke providers such as IPM, and the potential referral of clients to Moneyhelper in some instances.

You may recall we have written about this previously.

With that said, we are grateful for our advisers’ feedback and will consider this at our next review.

Some final feedback from the 2024 survey

We asked you for your favourite thing about working with IPM. You told us:

“Easy to deal with”
“Ability to talk to experts”
“Able to invest in property and have more bespoke portfolios for clients”
“Personalised contact for clients with properties”
“Personal service from a small company”
“The people”
“Customer service is second to none”
“Knowing that individuals are responsible for stuff – it’s not a faceless call centre putting stuff into anonymous work queues”
“Can look after international clients, pay in currencies other than sterling. More importantly, the team is friendly, helpful and efficient”
“Easy to get answers as to whether you will consider a particular proposition and good level of technical knowledge”.

You also reserved some special mentions for a couple of the IPM team!

“Jonathan Lochery has a great knowledge of both the SIPP and regulatory environment and instils confidence that we are dealing with an added-value business. He is also a jolly nice chap!”
“Jonathan is excellent – well ahead of his peers at other companies”
“You are a small company and can individually discuss cases and provide a decent service. James Randall is a good contact for us”
“James Randall’s knowledge of property investments into SIPP”.

We’ll leave the final word to one of the respondents who said:

“IPM SIPP are a can-do firm, problem-solvers, and also very nice people to deal with”.

Get in touch

If you want to have a chat about the potential of SIPPs for your clients, or any other aspects of pension planning, please contact us. Email info@ipm-pensions.co.uk or call 01438 747151.