Adviser invested 90% of client’s pension into high-risk Harlequin

Even in 2019, we’re STILL seeing claims made for negligent advice and actions leading to investments in high-risk hotel scheme Harlequin Properties.

The financial adviser in question, Professional Intermediary Introducers based in Wales provided advice through their appointed representative to Mrs P in 2011.

The advice resulted in Mrs P transferring her £110,000 personal pension into a SIPP in September 2011, with around 90% of the value invested in Harlequin.

Now, Professional Intermediary Introducers is being told by the Financial Ombudsman Service to pay £150,000 in compensation to Mrs P.

Why was compensation paid relating to Harlequin?

As an unregulated overseas property investment, Harlequin was always a high-risk venture, and Financial Advisers should have known this.

Advisers had a duty to make sure that clients who were considering investing in Harlequin were both aware of the risks (and able to manage them effectively), and were earning enough to run those risks in the first place.

This involved following risk tolerance rules to ensure that only those who were suitable for Harlequin went ahead and invested their pension into it.

In this case, its looks like the FOS determined that Professional Intermediary Introducers got it wrong, and join a long list of other financial advisers who gave negligent pension advice over overseas property schemes. Find out more about mis-sold pensions here.