Friend 'lost' £20k after transferring Pension?

buel

Apoligies for the lack of information, i can only work with what i've got/had.

Ok, a few answers-
The fund was around £100,000.
The 'loss' happened "around two years ago".
He continues to pay into his work fund that his company contribute the 3%.
Apparently the fund is now close to original £100k.

I hope this clarifies a few things?

mania112

buel wrote: »

Apoligies for the lack of information, i can only work with what i've got/had.

Ok, a few answers-
The fund was around £100,000.
The 'loss' happened "around two years ago".
He continues to pay into his work fund that his company contribute the 3%.
Apparently the fund is now close to original £100k.

I hope this clarifies a few things?

Expose the Adviser.

atush

Seems to me he lost it 'around 2 years ago' could have been in the previous crash. But again, not enough to go on, and no way to tell if the advisor overcharged him and if there was a good reason to transfer (better/more fund choice etc).

Wasn't 'mis sold' if he is still int he original plan.

buel

Really? I thought these answers kind of pointed towards the fact that it WASN'T the sort of diabolical advice that i first suspected?

buel

I see......so what other information could i obtain that would help?
Am i right in saying that it was just 'unfortunate' that the advice didn't turn out to be that great, ie- Hard luck?

Thank you for this.

atush

buel wrote: »

Really? I thought these answers kind of pointed towards the fact that it WASN'T the sort of diabolical advice that i first suspected?

If you look up, I did say it wasn't 'mis sold'. We still dont' know if he was overcharged.

In any case, no details of the charge and funds took a big hit over 2 years ago, but 2 years ago the ftse was going up. So I am assuming he invested before 2 years ago as the market bottom was in early 2009, and the fall came 3 years ago so he could have invested then.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EFTSE&t=5y&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=

claretmatt

You mentioned that the fund is "close to the original £100k" so does that not mean that there is no loss as such?

Met Life's strength is through the offering of "guaranteed" backed products which makes it even more head scratching.

dunstonh

Ok, a few answers-
The fund was around £100,000.
The 'loss' happened "around two years ago".
He continues to pay into his work fund that his company contribute the 3%.
Apparently the fund is now close to original £100k.

I hope this clarifies a few things?

It does indicate no wrong doing but the dates would need to be known.

There was a 40% stockmarket crash around that period. It has since recovered to around 20%. So, the figures as a ballpark on amount and rough dates do not seem unreasonable if there is a higher equity amount in there.

We had a market crash 3 months ago as well around the 20% mark. These things happen. They are a short term pain for money already invested but great news for those paying monthly.

atush

buel wrote: »

I see......so what other information could i obtain that would help?
Am i right in saying that it was just 'unfortunate' that the advice didn't turn out to be that great, ie- Hard luck?

Thank you for this.

sounds like unfortunate advice and hard luck.

But we'd need the dates of the transfer, the funds suggested, the costs of the transfer, and the amt the advisor got (and could still be getting ie trial commission).

Sounds to me this transfer was just before the fall 3 years ago perhaps., but we can't say. And if the funds are near to the original 100K, then there are no losses but also no gains for the period.

If the advisor said to not stay in the employers pension with the 'free' employer contribs, that would have been mis selling.

It would be interesting to know what the performace was of the original pension during the period from the switch til now?

It could be worse. he could have been advised to move funds after losing 30-40% and therefore possibly missed out on some of the recovery. when people panic sell, that is when serious losses can occur.

buel

Hi again. I asked my friend to ask the IFA the relevant questions but he has a lack ofcourage that is quite shocking really so that's that.

One thing i must say is that he was advised to move his fund from the Works pension that paid him 3% per month to 'Met life' and he did so but still kept his works fund and contributed to this as usual to keep getting his 3% from his employer.
Is this mis-selling?

Also, this same IFA who deals with his pension (and all other employees) changed his company name so in effect the company who gave this original advice no longer exists. Does this mean the IFA is no longer responsible for that original advice?