What can SIPP providers learn from Steve Jobs and Winston Churchill?

We all know that SIPPs (Self-Invested Personal Pensions) are designed to provide investors with greater flexibility and wider investment powers.

As we approach the 30th anniversary of the SIPP there’s no doubt most advisers and investors have used that flexibility well. However, over the past three decades, the world of pensions has become horribly complex. ‘A’ Day and Pension Simplification are a distant memory, while the ongoing debate about the NHS pension scheme illustrates the difficulties faced by many high-earners.

SIPPs face a twin threat; wider investment powers and the increasingly complex pension rules make SIPPs doubly complicated. As an adviser, you will do everything possible to guide your clients through those complexities. However, we believe SIPP providers must play their part too.

Here at IPM, we make every effort to keep things simple. Here are 10 ways we try to make your life simple:

1. We offer one SIPP; the ultimate in simplicity!
2. We’ve developed a simple charging structure; we don’t charge an establishment fee, or to transfer in or make contributions.
3. The annual fee remains unchanged regardless of the number of investments your clients make. This makes us a popular option for advisers whose clients have larger pension funds or who want to make multiple investments.
4. We don’t operate restrictive panels of investment houses; we believe SIPPs should be as flexible as possible. Furthermore, subject to our usual due diligence (which as a responsible SIPP provider you would expect us to undertake) you can recommend any DFM, platform, bond provider or stockbroker.
5. Your clients can open a deposit account with any FSCS protected bank or building society; we don’t restrict who they use including National Savings & Investments.
6. We make no charge for moving money to and from the trustee bank account.
7. We are very clear on the types of investment we won’t accept. For example, if your client wants to buy property overseas, we aren’t the right choice.
8. Each new commercial property purchase is allocated a dedicated member of the property team, giving you a single point of contact from instruction through to completion and beyond.
9. We don’t run restrictive panels of surveyors, banks or property managers. This gives your clients complete flexibility to structure their purchase and ownership in a way which suits them.
10. Where clients purchase commercial property, any remaining money in the SIPP can be placed in any investment solution at no additional cost. Furthermore, excess rental income can be forwarded to an investment solution on a regular basis at no additional cost.

So, what can we learn from Steve Jobs and Winston Churchill?

The importance of keeping things simple.

Winston Churchill probably wasn’t referring to the SIPP market when he said: “Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge” but he could have been!

Likewise, who can argue with Steve Jobs when he said: “Simple can be harder than complex.”

We’ve worked hard over the years to deliver a simple solution that gives both advisers and their clients what they want. We hope it’s working.

In the meantime, please click here for a handy guide to explain more about our investment flexibility.