Pension Freedom Rules means we locked your pension

NotCathcartManagement

A friend walks in asking for advice, well I have no idea about pensions. But I can ask..

So a pension investment company writes a letter.

It talks about the "new pension freedom rules" and that due "the investment company, in which your pension funds are invested" are in some long term investments. The pension holder "will be unable to pay any pension benefits or transfer out requests for the next 12 months."

To quote exactly what they are doing is:
"Therefore, after conducting a fundamental review of the position i realize that, the long term future of your investments may be compromised if action is not taken at this stage. based on a recommendation submitted to me by the investment manager and following consultation with my solicitor, I have reached the inescapable conclusion that the pension scheme must freeze all of the withdrawal requests for a period of up to 12 months to enable it to recover the required levels of liquidity. This means that you will not be able to receive any benefit payments, nor will you be able to transfer your benefits to another pension scheme during this time. Your fund will not be frozen and will continue to reflect any growth being accumulated by the longer term investments.

If the desired result is achieved within 12 months, I will contact you to confirm that he pension scheme is in a position to pay benefits and transfer out requests. i will also write to you during the year with a progress report.

I have reported this matter to the Pensions Regulator".

My friend is really annoyed as he has reached 60, delayed getting things moving as we all do! but was looking forward to drawing down the pension. Now he has to wait another 12 months? and presumably longer. As we know "long term investments" are certainly not 12 months.

I was wondering if you have any point of direction on this matter.

Can they lock up the funds ? ... even though he is 60 and even with Osbornes new rules.
What questions should he be asking?

As as soon as he put this on my desk to have a look and typed in its name and this old MSE topic came up. It did not give me much confidence.


Related Entities: Rutland Administration LTD, Cathcart Management (Services) LTD, Rachel Anderson, Ms Louise Ruth Anderson, Mr Ronald Anderson , QG Apollo Pension Scheme, Quantum Global Investments, Q G Apollo Ltd, Quantum Global Introducers, Quantum Global Investments Group, Quantum Global Investments Limited, BERNARD MICHAEL SUMNER, Ronald Birnie Anderson

wallpaperman

I'm afraid your friend has transferred his pension to a company that is at the dubious end of the pension market, to say the least.

I'm sure in a years time there will be another reason why the investment is still tied up.

No proper pension company would place these restrictions on someone accessing their money,and I think they are going to face up to the realisation that it may be difficult to get anything back,at least in the short term.

They should really go through the company's own complaints procedure first, but I suspect that would be filed in the closest bin. The regulator or ombudsman might be worthwhile though they probably know of them already.

princeofpounds

Does he know what it has been invested in?


Any normal pension fund will be very liquid - they will typically hold a range of funds, most of which (sometimes all) will hold daily liquidity.


In most defined contribution plans, you even pick the funds yourself, or pick one of the default options the pension company provides.


The problem here is not so much that this is a pension, it's that he appears to have given his money to a dodgy company who have put it somewhere totally unsuitable.

bigadaj

This doesn't sound great but a brief Google suggests that the pension may be in commercial property rather than anything more exotic. This would explain the lack of liquidity though why this is a good investment for someone approaching retirement isn't at all clear.

They make reference to the pensions regulator so would be worth enquiring with them and also trying to get more information on what exactly the pension is invested in.

dunstonh

Pension Freedom Rules means we locked your pension

Freezing of assets has nothing to do with pension freedom rules.

Can they lock up the funds ? ... even though he is 60 and even with Osbornes new rules.

The chanceller didnt create any new rules in this respect. Drawdown has existed since 2006. Again, its not the pension that is being frozen. It is the investments.

I have reported this matter to the Pensions Regulator".

Doesnt sound like it will be the pensions regulator that is needed. The complaint should go to the firm that advised him.

My friend is really annoyed as he has reached 60, delayed getting things moving as we all do! but was looking forward to drawing down the pension. Now he has to wait another 12 months? and presumably longer. As we know "long term investments" are certainly not 12 months.

Why did he choose to invest in non-mainstream investments in an area that is known to have potential liquidity issues?

xylophone

Doesnt sound like it will be the pensions regulator that is needed. The complaint should go to the firm that advised him.

It seems to be the pension company that has reported the matter to the regulator?

dunstonh

xylophone wrote: »

It seems to be the pension company that has reported the matter to the regulator?

If the assets are adviser arranged then it will be the FOS (after the FCA regulated complaints process).

neilvw

xylophone wrote: »

It seems to be the pension company that has reported the matter to the regulator?

Mention of TPR indicates that this is a work-based pension scheme.

dunstonh

neilvw wrote: »

Mention of TPR indicates that this is a work-based pension scheme.

That is what you would expect if the TPR is involved. However, the mention of the companies at the end of the post would suggest a retail scheme as they are not what you expect to see in works based schemes.

So, I think we need more information. Type of scheme, what investments it is using etc.

SCOTRAY40

Hi
I am afraid that this company is no longer as it went into administration last year.
Myself and my brother have been told that we cannot get any of our pension out as their is no longer anyone managing the investments and that the Pensions regulator has been asked to provide a new administrator.
Very worrying for us, as we feel that we may have been conned out of our life savings. Quantum Global Investments are a part of this also.

AnotherJoe

SCOTRAY40 wrote: »

Hi
I am afraid that this company is no longer as it went into administration last year.
Myself and my brother have been told that we cannot get any of our pension out as their is no longer anyone managing the investments and that the Pensions regulator has been asked to provide a new administrator.
Very worrying for us, as we feel that we may have been conned out of our life savings. Quantum Global Investments are a part of this also.

Which company?
How did your money end up with whatever company it is you are talking about?
Did your employer(s) put it there? Did you? Did someone advise you to?