Here’s what you told us in our 2019 client survey – and what we’re doing to improve
Before Christmas, we asked all financial advisers and planners to complete a short survey to help us to understand more about how advisers view the SIPP market.
This short survey was designed to help us to make some important decisions about how we develop our offering, and to help us to improve the service we provide to you and your clients.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete this survey – your input is greatly appreciated. This is what you told us.
Personal service and support still hugely important
In a world which is seeing ever-increased levels of automation, our advisers suggest that personal service and support is still one of the main reasons to choose a SIPP provider.
Almost three-quarters of respondents (74.6%) suggested that great support from a SIPP provider remains very important. This certainly plays into IPM’s strengths as this is one of the key aspects of our overall service.
What our advisers said about IPM:
- “(IPM) provide an important service to my HNW clients with your technical assistance and support.”
- “(We use IPM) because you are cost-effective and offer a good service.”
- “SIPP market contraction will make service all the more important.”
- “We value the ease of communication.”
Advisers looking for good online services
While a high-quality personal service is still of paramount importance, the online offerings of SIPP providers are also proving to be a major consideration for advisers.
Just over half (52.3%) of respondents deem online services to be important, while 32.2% of respondents rated this as very important.
One of the areas we are looking to improve is our online offering to advisers and we wanted to understand what was important to you.
35.2% of advisers said that having illustrations online would be a big benefit to them. Well, we are all ears because we are in the final stages of testing our illustration software so this can be brought to advisers online.
In the coming weeks, we will be rolling this out to a small number of the advisers we work with for their initial feedback. We then aim to make this available across the board in 2020.
Our survey also told us that 18.6% of respondents would like to see our historic valuation packs made available online, while 16.6% of advisers would like to see the content we currently offer on our adviser access facility to be mirrored to that which we offer our clients.
We are pleased to confirm that work on both these areas is underway and we hope to have this available soon.
Governance and capital adequacy still hugely important
Last month we looked at some high-profile cases where SIPP providers have failed, with significant consequences for advisers and their clients.
It’s perhaps therefore no surprise that we are seeing advisers take more of an interest in how SIPP providers are run.
Half of all respondents said that the capital adequacy of a SIPP provider was a very important consideration when looking at which provider to work with. 45.3% rate this as an important factor.
Perhaps surprisingly, 17% of advisers surveyed did not believe that a provider’s previously regulatory records and exposure to non-standard assets was something to look into.
We would urge caution here. There have been a lot of stories over recent years in regard to the practices undertaken by some providers and the investments that have been allowed within their SIPP offering.
Unsurprisingly, fees still play a big part of an adviser’s consideration to work with certain providers, with only 3.5% of respondents deeming this to not be important.
What our advisers said about IPM:
- “Liquidity, profitability and capital adequacy (are important). Keep maintaining the high levels of service.”
- “(We use IPM) because you are cost-effective and offer a good service.”
- “(You have an) excellent reputation.”
- “(When referring to IPM) working with people we trust.”
SIPP issues not affecting PI renewal
There has been a lot in the press over recent months about the difficulty that advisers are experiencing in obtaining PI cover (this Citywire article is just one example).
However, difficulties in PI renewal don’t seem to be an issue with our advisers. 99% of respondents suggested that they were not presented with any issues at their last PI renewal.
SIPPs continue to be a popular choice
The increase in SIPP numbers has been well-publicised in recent years and this seems to be reflected in our survey.
Only around one in ten respondents (10.8%) said they recommend less SIPPs for their clients in 2019, compared to 2018. 76.4% recommended broadly the same amount of SIPPs between the two years, while 12.7% recommended more.
What our advisers said about IPM:
- “Ability to work with clients based overseas.”
- “Specific expertise in certain areas i.e. commercial property purchase.”
Moneyfacts rating helps advisers to recommend us to clients
Over recent years you may have noticed that we have been publicising our ‘five-star’ rating awarded to us by Moneyfacts.
While we are delighted to often achieve such scores with the rating agencies, we wanted to understand what our advisers thought of this. We are pleased to see that our rating made it 30.1% more likely for our advisers to recommend us to their clients.
What our advisers said about IPM:
- “User-friendly and knowledgeable.”
- “5* great service and expertise.”
- “Carry on the good work!”
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 747 151.