General Portfolio Lifetime account

Nottstom

I took out a policy 25 years ago with General Portfolio it then became Windsor Life and then ReAssure. Basically my issue relates to the performance of this policy, I took it out as a long term investment hence the 25 years and basically left it without review (foolish in hindsight I know) just paying the increased payment each year. When I took the policy out at 25yrs old I was basically sold on how great the return would be, I remember the name of the person who I dealt with and her comments that they were only allowed to showed 2 projections of growth however the policy would definitely outperform that & I should be looking at at least twice the highest figure etc. etc. I rang up recently for a valuation and was surprised that it sits at a figure close to the low end projection, since then I have received another written valuation (this being the only correspondence from them for 25 years apart from a yearly notification of increase in monthly payment. The value hardly appears much more than my investment, certainly nowhere near my expectations (I had a similar policy with the Prudential into which I paid half the amount and received a figure close to this over only a 20 yr period). I'm now questioning what I was exactly sold (again in hindsight I should have done so years ago). Has anyone had experience with this company and product or can anyone suggest where I start or do I have to put this down as a bitter experience? Any help / suggestions would be appreciated, apart from not to be so foolish again as I already know that.

magpiecottage

It helps to break your posts into paragraphs.

Essentially, though, a complaint about poor investment performance will probably get nowhere.

A complaint about being signed up to an investment that was never suitable for you MIGHT succeed but you would need to show why it was unsuitable at outset.

antrobus

Nottstom wrote: »

I took out a policy 25 years ago with General Portfolio it then became Windsor Life and then ReAssure. Basically my issue relates to the performance of this policy, ....

You are not alone.

From the Guardian in 2001.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2001/dec/08/pensions.jobsandmoney

dunstonh

A complaint about lack of performance will not succeed on that particular point. The FCA does not allow complaints about investment returns unless there is evidence of wrongdoing (and they are very rarely found). It would require the complaint to look at the general sale of the policy and there is the potential for failures there. Was the sale of the product suitable. In 2015 it certainly wouldnt be as the product type is obsolete (generally went obsolete by 1995). However, any complaint on the product would be made based on the available products 25 years ago. There have been some successes on this point but it really depends on your circumstances at the time.

Comparing two different products from two different providers is not a good way of looking at quality. The Pru product is different to the Gen Portfolio one. You would have different target growth rates, different sum assureds etc. So, that would not tie up as a valid complaint reason.

Nottstom

Thank you for the replies;

When I took out the policy I was 25 yrs old, single, in full time employment with a large company (Rolls Royce Industrial group).

I was sold the policy (in Nov 1989) as a long term investment with a view to early retirement, I was looking at 55 at that time although the General Portfolio advisor was stating she was looking at retiring at something like 45 years old due by investing similarly.

The investment units were split in to those managed by Foreign & Colonial, Fidelity, Perpetual, Gartmore & Berry - do you know how I can see how those units have performed over the last 25 years?

Looking through the documentation I have, it appears that what I have is some sort of cover for disability and hospital benefit (there is a paragraph on schedule of benefits) - can anyone advise what exactly a 'lifetime' policy was?

Unless all of the funds performed horrendously over 25 years, (the surrender figure is very close to the figure of the amount that I have invested), then it would appear that money has disappeared elsewhere?

Who should I go to for advise / complaint / clarification?

magpiecottage

You might be able to argue that it was unsuitable as a it is really a life policy and since you were single you did not need one.

As far as funding for retirement is concerned, in house AVCs would have been better and for savings a Personal Equity Plan (or even an endowment) would have been more efficient.

redux

Nottstom wrote: »

Thank you for the replies;

When I took out the policy I was 25 yrs old, single, in full time employment with a large company (Rolls Royce Industrial group).

I was sold the policy (in Nov 1989) as a long term investment with a view to early retirement, I was looking at 55 at that time although the General Portfolio advisor was stating she was looking at retiring at something like 45 years old due by investing similarly.

The investment units were split in to those managed by Foreign & Colonial, Fidelity, Perpetual, Gartmore & Berry - do you know how I can see how those units have performed over the last 25 years?


Unless all of the funds performed horrendously over 25 years, (the surrender figure is very close to the figure of the amount that I have invested), then it would appear that money has disappeared elsewhere?

Who should I go to for advise / complaint / clarification?

Those investment firms will probably have done reasonably well. In some of the timespan Fidelity had Anthony Bolton and Perpetual Neil Woodford, who both achieved near legendary status as fund managers.

The issue with General Portfolio was the high impact of their own charges.

Before I started a pension scheme, one thing I did was buy a couple of issues of a magazine aimed at financial advisers, when it had annual surveys of pension schemes.

Tables of the effects of projected charges showed impacts of between about 7% and 65% in 25 years on a hypothetical clean fund without any charges deducted at all.

Unfortunately GP were near the bottom of that range.

At about that time, a friend who was a recently retired police sergeant started working for them. The surveys I'd seen prevented me talking to him on the subject. Fortunately he didn't stay there too long.

I can imagine the training suggesting the sales force target friends and acquaintances, including amongst former colleagues, so I can only wonder at how many people were badly advised by firms like this to exit good occupational schemes and lose the effect of employer contributions, on the basis of mythical projections of large funds derived from modest input per month.

Whether you can construct a complaint about their sales process involving both exaggerated fund projections and hiding the effect of their charges, and still make it stick after all this time, I don't know, but I wish you luck.

Nottstom

Thanks again for the replies.

Who would I contact, do I contact Reassure direct or is there an ombudsman?

If I can form a claim that I was mis-sold the product as it was unsuitable for my requirements, what would be a reasonable outcome compensation wise?

magpiecottage

You must complain to the business first.

They should give you details of your rights to go to the ombudsman with their response.