Hargreave Hale’s selection of Dunstan Thomas Imago administration service proves key to SIPP success for the stockbroker
Leading stockbroker and investment manager Hargreave Hale Limited has attributed the rapid entry and success of its SIPP, launched in April 2009, in part to its decision to strategically outsource SIPP administration to pensions administrator Dunstan Thomas.
Once Hargreave Hale decided that they wanted to enter the SIPP marketplace with its own offering in early 2009, they recognised that there were four key challenges to making this move successful long-term:
- Providing robust and high quality client service for its SIPP policyholders
- Administering a comparatively small number of plans, at least initially, in a cost effective manner
- Keeping abreast of dynamic legislative and market changes affecting SIPPs
- Enabling interfaces with existing in-house investment management and IT systems to achieve efficiencies and return on investment
Hargreave Hale addressed these challenges by selecting Dunstan Thomas’ Imago SIPP administration platform. The system went live a year ago and has delivered very positive results for the stockbroker.
Imago is linked to Hargreave Hale via a secure web portal. The system’s daily activities and transactions include new business, asset transfers, bank files, payroll and updates from Hargreave Hale’s own Investmaster investment management system. Hargreave Hale retains the client and FSA relationship, whilst outsourcing all relevant reporting documentation, data gathering and calculation work to the Imago platform. Imago also produces all reporting documentation including benefit statements, SMPI reports and reports into the FSA and HMRC returns at tax year end.
Stuart Brookes, director, Hargreave Hale:
“Outsourcing this gritty administration to Dunstan Thomas has enabled us to focus on bringing a highly cost effective, flexible, future-proofed and unique SIPP to market rapidly, whilst continuing to look after our customers in the way we always have. The Imago offering has exceeded our initial expectations both in terms of the platform itself and the system and market knowledge of Dunstan Thomas’ pensions team.”
Dunstan Thomas supported its expanding outsourced pensions administration service portfolio with a team of pensions administrators who were recruited in 2009 to work from its headquarters in Portsmouth.
Chris Read, chairman, Dunstan Thomas, explains the outsourcing trend:
“Hargreave Hale represents a trend in the market for strategic outsourcing in order to help firms retain a strong focus on the customer whilst ensuring all reporting and documentation remains highly informative, accurate and meets statutory requirements. Our stated desire of offering the option of Imago software ‘as a service’ is now finding favour with some of our more astute and fast moving clients such as Hargreave Hale.”
