Mr M case study

The problem

Mr M was advised by Chadkirk Wealth Management Ltd to transfer his Scottish Widows personal pension into a Novia SIPP in 2015. Mr M transferred a total of £80,447.78 into a Novia SIPP and made various investments that were high risk and unregulated. Mr M, however, had no investment experience and a low attitude to risk.

The investments Chadkirk Wealth Management Ltd had recommended were unsuitable for him based on his risk profile. Chadkirk Wealth Management Ltd were required to ensure their recommendations were in the best interests of Mr M by taking into account his attitude to risk, his needs, and his objectives.

The solution

They failed to demonstrate that Mr M knew of and understood the risks associated with the investments within his SIPP and the transfer as a whole. Soon after the transfer, in 2016, Chadkirk Wealth Management Ltd dissolved and ceased to trade. A complaint was submitted against the firm to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”).

The FSCS upheld the complaint and valued many of Mr M’s investments at nil, believing it to be highly unlikely that Mr M would receive a return from his investments.

The results

They agreed that the transfer and investments within Mr M’s SIPP were unsuitable for him. The FSCS awarded an interim payment of £39,034.00, in order to put Mr M in the position he would have been in originally, had he not transferred his pension and invested in the subsequent investments.