Meet the IPM team: Who you’ll speak to when you work with us

This article is intended for financial services professionals only. None of the information contained in this article should be received as advice. Pensions are a complicated area of financial planning and IPM suggests that financial advice from a suitably regulated financial adviser is sought before an individual takes any action in respect of their pension savings.

Regular readers of our content will know that we cover a range of different subjects in our updates.

We share our technical knowledge around pensions with you, as well as information about some of the work we see being undertaken in the SIPPs we look after. And of course, we provide you with information about how the IPM SIPP can help your clients.

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Today, we want to share more with you about the team we have built at IPM.

Like most service-based businesses, our team is absolutely crucial in delivering the high level of personal support we aim to offer our advisers and clients. We are very lucky to have built up an experienced team over the last 25 years.

As of August 2025:

We have 35 members of staff at our Stevenage office
We’re split into two teams: admin and property
There is also our management committee
23 of our team have been with us for over 10 years…
…and 8 of those 23 have been with IPM for over 20 years!

We are proud of our team and even more proud that we have so many long-standing members of staff. Not only does this reflect that IPM is a good place to be, but for our advisers and clients, it brings continuity in the relationships they build with us.

This continuity not only makes it easier to work with us, but also means that our team is experienced in pensions and the processes IPM have in place to deliver the best outcomes to clients.

We would like to introduce you to the members of our team, giving you some background on their roles and when you may well work with them.

Management committee

Our management committee is made up of:

David Sutcliffe
Claire Warren, head of administration
Ian Napier, head of property
Jonathan Lochery
James Randall
Balbinder Bains.

The committee is made up of people with a wide range of roles at IPM. Each brings expertise that allows us to continue evolving our offering and ensure that IPM continues to be the best it can be. Each member of the committee has 20 years or more of pensions experience.

In his role as managing director, David oversees the day-to-day running of IPM. One of our founders, David’s experience with self-administered pension schemes goes back to 1988, which comes in handy when a pre-pension simplification query comes up!

Then, Claire and Ian head up our admin and property teams respectively, with Balbinder providing support to Claire’s role. Each holding more than 25 years of pension knowledge, Claire, Ian, and Balbinder are able to bring what their teams are seeing on a day-to-day basis into committee meetings to ensure that the IPM offering continues to meet adviser and client expectations.

Finally, Jonathan and James are our adviser-facing members of the team. Whether out and about all over the UK or on Teams, they regularly meet with our advisers to assist them with specific client scenarios, discuss opportunities where the IPM SIPP can benefit their clients, or provide the technical back-up and support our advisers need.

Property team

Property purchase is one of the most popular investment choices for clients setting up SIPPs with IPM.

In 2024, 57% of the new SIPPs we established held an element of property within them. And, as of August 2025, we:

Own over 1,200 properties on behalf of our clients
Have over 110 pending transactions.

With over 25 years’ experience in property transactions, IPM knows all too well that these can be emotive investments. Often, these involve the clients personally; either we are purchasing a property from them, or their business is going to occupy the premises once in the SIPP.

It is for this reason that we make our property team accessible. A member of our team is allocated for each transaction we undertake, giving you a point of contact from instruction through to completion and beyond.

We split our property team into job roles, with team members allocated to specific tasks. People usually have more than one responsibility, meaning that there is plenty of cover in the event of absences.

Property transactions

For each property we buy, a member of the team is allocated to instruct the solicitors and see that transaction through to the end. As well as Ian, the other team members involved in this are:

Terry Glynn
Justine Barker
Clare O’Callaghan
Donna Butler.

If you’ve been through the process of a property transaction before, whether in a SIPP or not, you will be aware that these may not always go to plan, and pressure can be applied from outside the transaction. Ian, Terry, Justine, Clare, and Donna bring together a wealth of experience to help our advisers find solutions when required.

Our experience and personal approach to how we work have often been decisive in delivering positive outcomes for our clients.

While we purchase a lot of properties, we also have our fair share of sales, too!

While you may encounter Terry or Clare when you carry out a property sale, fellow property team members might also be involved in this role. This includes:

James Cooper
Michelle Cawsey-Bains
Fariha Rahman
Kerrie Thompson
Charlotte Goddard.

Like purchases, a member of the team will be involved in the sale from instruction until the transaction has concluded.

When you own a property, there are many administrative tasks that need to be performed to ensure that the property is maintained. As a trustee owning over 1,200 properties, you can imagine that there are many tasks we need to carry out!

We split these tasks down into specific groups, and then individual team members are responsible for completing them:

Buildings insurance – All properties within our Scheme must be insured. We do this via a block policy to ensure that properties are insured at all times. James and Michelle deal with this, including adding new purchases to the block policy and subsequent renewals.
VAT returns – Some of our properties are VAT-registered. This leads to additional work that IPM needs to look at, including the completion of quarterly VAT returns. Justine, Clare and James, deal with the completion of the returns, and their submission to HMRC.
Leases – A big part of the day-to-day work our property team carry out is in relation to leases. All properties owned by IPM must have a lease in place when they are occupied to set the terms of tenancy. Michelle, James, Fariha, and Kerrie deal with lease queries. This can vary from putting new leases in place to renewing existing agreements, as well as rent reviews.
Bills – Like any other building, properties owned by a SIPP have a variety of bills that will need settling. These can vary from utility bills to non-domestic rates. Kerrie, Fariha, and Charlotte help to ensure these are kept in hand.
Rent arrears – It is unfortunate, but on occasion, some of the tenants of properties owned by IPM fall behind on rental payments. It is important that IPM keeps on top of these and works with the property manager to resolve the issue. Where a property is in arrears, Charlotte can assist with bringing matters back on track.

The above is a brief overview of the day-to-day tasks our property team undertake. However, it goes without saying that there is a lot more that everyone contributes to continue delivering the high-level, personable service that IPM strives to provide.

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.