The IPM annual review: 7 of the biggest pension stories from 2025
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.
2025 has been another busy year for IPM. We have continued to see increased levels of enquiry for our services and a rise in the number of advisers we work with. There have also been plenty of external factors keeping us on our toes!
In addition to all this, we continue to evolve our offering, with the aim of delivering the best possible support to our advisers and clients.
Here are seven of the key areas that have kept IPM busy over the past 12 months.
1. Inheritance Tax looms large over pensions
It feels as though many in the industry are still not over the surprise announcement in October 2024 that pensions will be included in the scope of Inheritance Tax (IHT) from April 2027.
While still some time away, April 2027 will come around quickly. Many advisers we speak with are concerned about the impact this change will have on their clients, and over the last 12 months, we have had countless hypothetical conversations about how the reality will play out.
While we have no doubt the picture will become clearer in 2026, here is our latest article about how we see the position.
2. The Autumn Budget!
If IHT was the number one conversation we had with advisers in 2025, the Budget came a close second.
An unusually late Budget allowed the rumour mill to go into full swing, to the frustration of everyone in the industry. Perhaps this extended build-up was part of the reason the noise regarding pensions being in the chancellor’s crosshairs felt louder than usual.
In the end, while still significant, the only really material announcement for pensions is the restriction on salary sacrifice of up to £2,000, starting from 2029.
Still, all that noise led us to look at what the rumours for the Budget were and to reinforce the message about pensions.
3. Pension recycling and the right to change your mind
On the back of the Budget rumours, we reminded advisers of two areas of pension legislation that may have affected clients’ decisions in the lead-up.
One was around the recycling rules – taking a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) from a SIPP and then making larger-than-normal levels of contributions back into a pension.
The other was around the right to change your mind and the cooling-off periods from taking a PCLS, after announcements from both HMRC and the FCA.
4. Goodbye LTA, hello LSA, LSDBA, and TTFAC
It seems a long time since the removal of the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) was first announced; in fact, it was a whole other government ago!
Initially, this seemed like great news; the LTA was a complex piece of legislation, so the fact that we might not need to worry about it was encouraging.
However, it was not that straightforward. After a more than 12-month farewell, the LTA was replaced with a range of new limits (and acronyms), all new rules that providers, advisers, and clients needed to get their heads around. This included the:
- Lump Sum Allowance (LSA)
- Lump Sum Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA)
- Transitional tax-free allowance certificate (TTFAC)
We took a look at the history of the LTA and what the introduction of the new rules meant in this article.
5. How the LSA, LSDBA, and TTFAC work in practice
Following on from the above, we put together this useful case study, looking at the impact of the new rules in a real-life scenario.
6. You can now set up IPM SIPPs using electronic signatures
We are always looking at ways to enhance the services we provide to advisers and clients. While our core approach is to continue to be a personal and flexible service, we cannot ignore technological advances.
We always want to strike the right balance between what we offer digitally and making sure we still offer a tailored approach.
With this in mind, we were pleased to confirm in 2025 that we are now able to offer a digital solution to establishing SIPPs with IPM.
You can find out more about the new process in this article, which also provides a useful overview of the other online services we can offer.
7. And finally… meet the IPM team!
And now to one of our most viewed articles of the year. It would seem that readers of our content are more interested in the team at IPM than any pension-related content we put out!
We don’t blame them, really. We are proud of the team we have put together over the last 25 years, each of them integral to the high-level, personable service we aim to provide our advisers and clients.
While some members of our team are adviser-facing, a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes with our colleagues back at the office.
Although they are a little shy, this article looks at members of our property team who you may come across during your day-to-day dealings with IPM, as well as our management committee.
Given the popularity of this article, we will run a similar piece on our admin team in 2026!
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.