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Pi Partnership’s Response to Isio’s 2025 Professional Independent Trustee Survey

Thank you to Isio for their insightful 2025 Professional Independent Trustee Survey Report, which highlights the continued growth and transformation of the professional trustee market. The role of the trustee is becoming increasingly professionalised, with rising expectations around specific expertise and experience, and a continued shift toward the corporate sole trustee model.

Key themes from the report include:

  • Steady growth in the professional trustee market
  • A growing number of professional trustee directors
  • Expansion of trustee firms in both size and capability
  • Heightened interest of The Pensions Regulator, particularly in relation to corporate sole trusteeship and the delivery of additional services
  • A broad consensus that The Pensions Regulator should provide clear guidance on the scope of services professional trustee firms can offer
Isio's 2025 professional independent trustee survey

How The Survey Reflects Pi Partnership

We’re proud that Pi Partnership is recognised in the report for our strong growth in trusteeship roles, and for our independent secretarial and governance services. These milestones reflect our strategic commitment to delivering full-spectrum governance solutions – especially through our focus on the sole trustee model.

At Pi, we’ve continued to invest in a diverse and experienced team, drawing on backgrounds across actuarial, legal, investment, HR, and business leadership. This broad base of expertise enables us to support schemes through a range of complex challenges – whether that’s ongoing scheme management, adviser reviews, buy-in and buyout transactions, board governance assessments, or outsourced pensions management.

The report also reinforces the importance of identifying your scheme’s unique needs before appointing a professional trustee. Is there a knowledge or governance gap? Are you approaching a de-risking milestone? Consider what type of governance structure best supports your scheme’s objectives – whether that’s a Chair of Trustees or a corporate sole trustee model.

It’s also vital to think about the experience and interpersonal qualities your trustee should bring. In many cases, team dynamics and stakeholder engagement are just as important as technical knowledge. Defining clear selection criteria will help ensure the right fit – someone who can work with your board to guide the scheme toward its most appropriate endgame.

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Diversity

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Everyone has different needs, and we support this balance offering true flexibility in how our people manage their time and fully support part time working and a family friendly approach.

Communication

Communication

We believe in clear and transparent communication and create regular opportunities for internal communication. Our regular business updates and opportunities to input into the business ensures everyone feels part of the team and on the same page at Pi, ensuring our hybrid working model is effective regardless of where you are based.

Development

Development

Nurturing every Pi Person is important to us and we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity for continued professional development by providing the space to do this alongside client commitments. Everyone has an individual Personal Development Plan catered to them, whether they are on the start of their journey with Pi or those looking at ways to transition into the next stage of their careers.

Everyone has the opportunity for a regular development and progression review and everyone has ownership over their own development with input and guidance of senior member of the team where required.

We provide regular opportunities to share knowledge amongst our teams through Lunch Time Learn in sessions and actively encourage involvement and participation into this.

Culture

Culture

We are an open, friendly and supportive team who thrive in a flexible and autonomous environment. Our people are trusted to get on with things, adding value and individual contribution, whilst maintaining a good work life balance and ideally having fun along the way.

We want to ensure we cultivate our special culture and our focus is to maintain our exceptional engagement levels. We are proud to have been awarded the Sunday Times Best Place to Work for small businesses in 2023 and 2024, and also in 2025 after moving to the medium-sized business category.

Employee Owned

Employee Owned

Our employee ownership structure is central to our philosophy of making sure every Pi Person is part of our success story, contributing to how we run the business, and sharing in the profits. We know that being successful is not just down to numbers, it’s about our people who all contribute in their unique way to our success and creating a working environment where everyone has a voice.

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Visit Us

2nd Floor Tuition House, 27-37 St. George’s Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 4EU

Email Us

enquiries@pipg.co.uk

Call Us

020 8879 6500

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our team

Amanda Burden

Director and Governance Specialist

Amanda is a Board Director of Pi Partnership Group and leads the development of Pi’s services. She works closely with clients, the Pi team and professional advisers to ensure all of Pi’s services meet the changing needs of the pension market and deliver clear value to Pi’s clients.

Amanda has over twenty-five years’ experience in the pensions industry and, as well as ensuring Pi’s services continue to meet the needs of our clients in a rapidly changing pension landscape, is also a member of Pi’s Executive Management Team. She provides specialist project management for clients on a range of services, including adviser selection and review, trustee board assessment and governance design.

As well as being a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and Chair of the PMI London Group, Amanda holds PMI certificates in Pensions Automatic Enrolment and DC Governance, was a past Prince2 practitioner and is a Certified Risk Management Practitioner.

What do you most enjoy about your role:  Successfully delivering complex projects and creating a happy team environment.

Interests outside work: Travel, theatre and as part of Abundance London helping create beautiful spaces in urban settings.

Top achievement to date: Competing in the 2005/06 Round the World Clipper race.