Pension Advisory Firms that have Recently Gone into Liquidation
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The pensions mis-selling scandal has resulted in several advisory firms going into liquidation. Here are the latest companies to have collapsed as a result of their past operations.
Companies that have collapsed due to mis-selling pensions
Economic Financial Solutions IFA Limited
Economic Financial Solutions (previously trading as Torch Wealth Management) went into liquidation in November 2019. The Welsh firm were under investigation for providing unsuitable financial advice to their clients, and the FSCS received numerous complaints regarding their practices.
Kingsway Wealth Management
41 claims were made against Kingsway Wealth Management, for the mis-selling of their pension products. Clients were moved to SIPPs investments, which then underperformed, resulting in a significant loss of money.
Kingsway (who were associated with Pension Transfers Ltd) went into administration in December 2019, and it’s likely that more claims will be made against them in the future.
City One Securities
City One Securities (which promoted itself as a ‘boutique corporate finance house’) went into liquidation due to their activities involving high-risk, unregulated investments.
They were working alongside St Pauls Marketing Ltd, who promoted the risky investment products. The company also marketed unquoted securities, like Net Energy and The House of Britannia. It’s important to note that there are legal restrictions in place when it comes to promoting this kind of security.
NJ Associates Financial Service Ltd
This firm (associated with Pensions Calculator) was also caught mis-selling pension products, and several claims were made against it. It went into liquidation in September 2019, and by January 24th 2020, the FSCS had already had to pay out £28,000 in compensation, after the company defaulted.
Multicorp Rose
Multicorp Rose (also associated with Pensions Calculator) has now collapsed, and this isn’t the first occasion that they’ve been in trouble with financial regulators. In 2018, The Telegraph ran a news report, highlighting Multicorp Rose’s misleading and pressurised pension-selling techniques, carried out via cold calling.
Multicorp Rose used a ‘pension introducer firm’ to win clients. These unauthorised financial agencies have proven to be problematic, and the FCA claimed to be ‘looking into’ their practices.
Intuitive Financial Associates LLP
The FSCS declared Intuitive Financial Associates LLP as ‘failed’ in February 2020. This declaration meant that clients could legitimately make a claim for money lost as a result of investing with the firm.
Intuitive Financial Associates were involved in a recent scandal involving steelworkers, who were given poor advice regarding their pensions. The FCSC received 110 complaints against four financial firms, and Intuitive was one of them.
Asset Independent Financial Advisors Limited
The FSCS declared that Asset Independent Financial Advisors (trading as Asset IFA) had defaulted in February, after numerous clients complained about their mis-sold pensions.
Like Multicorp Rose, Asset have also found themselves in hot water in the past, through using unregulated ‘introducers’ to gain custom. The FCA requested that the firm should “immediately cease all regulated investment activities for customers introduced by unauthorised introducers”, in a bid to protect consumers.
Serenus Consulting Ltd
Serenus Consulting went into liquidation in February 2020, after the FCA received a series of complaints about their mis-sold pension products. The firm had hit the headlines a few years previously, due to legal conflict with Phoenix Life, who refused to provide Serenus with information about a pension scheme (due to suspicions over scams).
Do you think you were mis-sold a pension product from one of the above advisory firms? You may be entitled to compensation. If you’re concerned that you’ve been a victim of pension mis-selling, get in touch with the Goodwin Barrett team today on on 0808 163 1659 or email enquiries@goodwinbarrett.co.uk.
References
https://www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2020/02/27/fscs-pays-3m-to-steelworker-claims-against-4-firms/
https://www.ftadviser.com/your-industry/2020/03/27/fscs-declares-eight-advice-firms-in-default/
