Innvesting nest egg of an 80 year old novice

jamesd

For a complaint what matters are things like the risk level that was described by the client (the amount of up and down that was acceptable), the investments used and whether those investments were consistent with the risk objective.

If all equities means something like a FTSE All Share Index tracker then there would need to be a tolerance for drops in the range of 45-50% and that is inconsistent with a statement from the IFA that the money would be safe, at least in common language.

The timing here is pretty bad for all equities so it's not surprising that there's been some drop, just the degree of drop.

An IFA doing this would normally be expected to provide a written document explaining the reasons for selecting the investments and how they fit within the risk tolerance.

So, what did the documentation say about risk tolerance and the reasons for the specific investments being selected? What investments were used?

So far this is reading like a high prospect of a successful complaint that would get her the original amount of money back plus interest for five years. But more information is really needed.