Greyfriars: FSCS Pays Out £3.75m On Mis-Selling Claims
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The SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension) mis-selling scandal does not look like it’s going to disappear any time soon. Over the last few years there has been a major crackdown on mis-sold SIPP providers, products and advisors whereby their product or advice resulted in customers losing thousands from their pension funds.
Greyfriars Asset Management is just one of these SIPP providers who mis-sold pensions on various portfolios, in particular their P6 portfolio. This is not the first time Greyfriars have hit the headlines, over the last few years, hundreds of mis-selling claims have been made against the wealth manager. Just recently, the FSCS confirmed that they had paid out £3.75m on 88 successful claims against Greyfriars.
Read on to find out more about the mis-selling claims made against Greyfriars.
Greyfriars Asset Management – Where the Problems Began
The issues with Greyfriars began in 2016, when the FCA had given the SIPP provider several warnings over their poor compliance and oversight controls. They then discovered the funds were exposed to potentially high-risk assets. This resulted in the FCA instructing the SIPP provider to cease putting any new money into it’s portfolios. Their portfolio - P6 - was of particular concern because it was made up of non-standard and illiquid investments.
By October 2018, Greyfriars had closed its investment branch and went into administration. Its customers suffered financial losses due to SIPP mis-selling under the direction of the financial advisors. In February of 2019, the FSCS started to take pension mis-selling claims against the company.
Where the Problem Currently Stands
Close to 500 claims have been made to date, and over 350 of them are related to SIPP investments. The basis of the claims is that the clients believe that the advisors didn't fully explain the risk level of transferring their pensions into these SIPP schemes.
The FSCS has continued to work on securing compensation for the investors who lost their pensions. So far, 88 claims have been successful and have yielded a payout of £3.75m, with 263 more claims in progress.
Greyfriars entered default in April 2020 after the Lifeboat Fund received at least one eligible claim against the firm.
Have you been mis-sold a SIPP?
SIPP mis-selling has become more common over the years, but there are some signs to look out for if you think you’ve been mis-sold to.
Common signs of SIPP mis-selling include:
- The advisor didn’t explain the product properly
- The level of risk associated with the product was not explained to you
- You felt pressurised to take out a SIPP product
- The advisor did not assess your attitude towards risk
- You were not presented with a list of investment options
- The advisor did not check the product’s suitability for you
You Could Be Owed Compensation
If the above signs of SIPP mis-selling sound familiar, you may be entitled to make a claim. Contact Goodwin Barrett today on 0808 163 1659 today or email us at enquiries@goodwinbarrett.co.uk to find out if you could be eligible for compensation.
