Home > News > 2003 > May 2003 > There's nothing ordinary about ordinary members (MPMI)
There's nothing ordinary about ordinary members (MPMI)
There were several reasons to be cheerful earlier this year when the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) introduced its new Ordinary Member status.
First, those who have worked their way through the PMI's demanding Level 4 National Vocational Qualification, the Qualification in Pensions Administration (QPA), can now apply for this membership status.
Second, completion of the PMI's Retirement Provision Diploma similarly entitles candidates to apply for the status. As with the QPA, completing the Retirement Provision Diploma is no mean feat: to achieve this currently means passing the first five of the PMI's Associateship exams.
Third, once elected to Ordinary Member status, individuals are entitled to use the designatory initials MPMI.
Benefits of MPMI status
Ordinary Members pay a subscription to the PMI and receive copies of their monthly pensions news magazine, PMI News, and other relevant literature. It's a fair point that many MPMIs will already be Student Members of the PMI and will be receiving this information anyway. However, a significant proportion of new Ordinary Members will be those who are QPA qualified and for whom the sight of a pensions newsletter landing on their doormat once a month will be a new experience.
MPMIs can also participate in the PMI's continuing professional development scheme, which requires 25 hours of informal development (such as reading pensions articles on this website) and 15 hours of formal development (such as attending accredited courses, seminars and lectures) to be recorded each year. This may not sound like much of a benefit at first glance, but participating in the scheme, and the discipline of doing so, is both an aid to career and personal development and, in the case of formal development, an opportunity to meet with others in the industry.
The most obvious benefit of becoming an Ordinary Member is, of course, being able to use the designatory initials, MPMI. At Barnett Waddingham, we're proud to already have 9 MPMIs:
Mark Benham, Amersham pensions administration
Mike Ferguson, Amersham SSAS and executive benefits
Elaine Robinson, Amersham pensions administration
Omaira Inayat, Leeds pensions administration
Sandy Cundy, Cheltenham pensions administration
Mark Moore, Cheltenham pensions administration
Sarah Withers, Cheltenham pensions administration
Guy Dove, Leeds pensions administration
Stephen Leah, Leeds pensions administration
We also have 19 APMIs and 2 FPMIs and are expecting some more colleagues to earn the new MPMI badge later this year.
Barnett Waddingham, May 2003.