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Adviser fined £1.3m after pension transfer failures
Comments
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Bravepants said:I would not be surprised if that's now the end of DB transfers.Surely no advisor will touch them with a barge pole from now on?
Remember that a more typical adviser with PTS permissions probably only does a handful of DB transfers a year, if that. The issues all seem to be from the firms that did hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands.
According to the FCA notice, he did 422 DB transfers. That is an astonishingly high figure for one individual adviser. My personal view is that the FCA should look at the numbers of DB transfers done by the firm and the number of PTS advisers it has and if the ratio is above a certain number, they should proactively check that firm.
I notice that the firm is in liquidation. So, as usual, it will be the majority of decent, ethical and compliant firms that foot the bill.
It is also ironic, that the firm in this action is exactly the type that many of the posters on this site that wanted a DB transfer (or still do) were looking for.
I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.11 -
I heard Prof. Atul Shah on Radio 4 today and he has a pretty jaundiced opinion of the UK financial industry and the general way that people deal with their finances, particularly the amount of debt. His thoughts align pretty well with mine and I'm glad that I have never felt the need to employ a financial advisor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000yldz
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”1 -
bostonerimus said:I heard Prof. Atul Shah on Radio 4 today and he has a pretty jaundiced opinion of the UK financial industry and the general way that people deal with their finances, particularly the amount of debt. His thoughts align pretty well with mine and I'm glad that I have never felt the need to employ a financial advisor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000yldz
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bostonerimus said:I heard Prof. Atul Shah on Radio 4 today and he has a pretty jaundiced opinion of the UK financial industry and the general way that people deal with their finances, particularly the amount of debt. His thoughts align pretty well with mine and I'm glad that I have never felt the need to employ a financial advisor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000yldz
I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
bostonerimus said:I heard Prof. Atul Shah on Radio 4 today and he has a pretty jaundiced opinion of the UK financial industry and the general way that people deal with their finances, particularly the amount of debt. His thoughts align pretty well with mine and I'm glad that I have never felt the need to employ a financial advisor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000yldz1 -
bostonerimus said:I heard Prof. Atul Shah on Radio 4 today and he has a pretty jaundiced opinion of the UK financial industry and the general way that people deal with their finances, particularly the amount of debt. His thoughts align pretty well with mine and I'm glad that I have never felt the need to employ a financial advisor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000yldz1 -
Thrugelmir said:bostonerimus said:I heard Prof. Atul Shah on Radio 4 today and he has a pretty jaundiced opinion of the UK financial industry and the general way that people deal with their finances, particularly the amount of debt. His thoughts align pretty well with mine and I'm glad that I have never felt the need to employ a financial advisor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000yldz“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”0 -
Unwarranted pile on to bostonerimus imo, particularly if you haven't listened to the link.
I don't expect representatives of the financial services industry to act "ethically;" they take no hipppocratic oath, after all.
Equally, I don't buy the idea that "good" and "bad" are the two types of (I)FA (with a tiny minority of "bad" ones being responsible for all the trouble).
If there are two types (I)FA, imo, they are the greedy and the fearful. But, being human, each is a mixture of the two, to varying degrees. If you use an (I)FA -particularly if you have to use an (I)FA - I believe the expectation that the (I)FA will act in their own interest will save the client much future disappointment.0 -
I don't expect representatives of the financial services industry to act "ethically;" they take no hipppocratic oath, after all.Why would a medical oath have anything to do with financial services?Equally, I don't buy the idea that "good" and "bad" are the two types of (I)FA (with a tiny minority of "bad" ones being responsible for all the trouble).We know you have a biased jaded view but this is just silly.
If there are two types (I)FA, imo, they are the greedy and the fearful. But, being human, each is a mixture of the two, to varying degrees. If you use an (I)FA -particularly if you have to use an (I)FA - I believe the expectation that the (I)FA will act in their own interest will save the client much future disappointment.
It is also somewhat ironic that your criticism of ethics is based on the fact that an IFA or FA will not transfer your pension when they do not feel it is in your best interests.
I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.5 -
dunstonh said:I don't expect representatives of the financial services industry to act "ethically;" they take no hipppocratic oath, after all.Why would a medical oath have anything to do with financial services?Equally, I don't buy the idea that "good" and "bad" are the two types of (I)FA (with a tiny minority of "bad" ones being responsible for all the trouble).We know you have a biased jaded view but this is just silly.
If there are two types (I)FA, imo, they are the greedy and the fearful. But, being human, each is a mixture of the two, to varying degrees. If you use an (I)FA -particularly if you have to use an (I)FA - I believe the expectation that the (I)FA will act in their own interest will save the client much future disappointment.
Imo, self interest is like gravity: it governs everything.
You realise, don't you, that Geoffrey Armin was based in Derbyshire, far away from most of the British Steel pensioners?
You must know that most transferees were introduced to him by another financial adviser?
You realise that the ongoing kickbacks mentioned upthread (£6,000 for every year each worker stayed with the new investment) didn't go to Armin but the (I)FA who used him as a conduit?
I'm saying (I)FAs are neither saints nor sinners but the same as everybody else:- self interested.
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