Poor Investment Product Performance. Any recompense?

Seller

Has anyone else been conned by so called "Independent" Financial Advisers selling you investment policies which then turn out to be poor investments due to being front loaded with charges and with large exit fees where they keep most of the funds?

In my case, I was sold three different Hansard Europe/Global products, which have never performed well and will cost me a fortune to get out of. Example performance below. I'd have been better putting the cash under the mattress. 

Am I stuck with this awful performance with no recompense or is there any way I can complain to someone? All advice welcome.

HappyHarry

Seller said:

Has anyone else been conned by so called "Independent" Financial Advisers selling you investment policies which then turn out to be poor investments due to being front loaded with charges and with large exit fees where they keep most of the funds?

In my case, I was sold three different Hansard Europe/Global products, which have never performed well and will cost me a fortune to get out of. Example performance below. I'd have been better putting the cash under the mattress. 

Am I stuck with this awful performance with no recompense or is there any way I can complain to someone? All advice welcome.

Something here does not sound right. Are you sure you have been dealing with a UK regulated IFA?

What kind of product are they in? ISA? Pension? Investment bond?

Do you have a copy of the suitability report explaining what has been recommended to you and why?

What are the exit charges? It is unusual to have any.

What does the graph show? Why no change in value in the blue line since 2019/2020?

In answer, yes, you complain to the IFA and if you are unhappy with the response than you can than complain via the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Independent Financial Advisers should be independent and working in your best interest. I know many, and none of them would be looking to con you.

Albermarle

To get compensation you would presumably have to prove that the advice given to you was unsuitable for your circumstances and preferences at the time. The last two points should have been discussed/examined in detail with you by the IFA at the time . If that did not happen you might have a case.
However if the investments chosen seemed appropriate at the time, but then have performed badly since then this is not grounds for a serious complaint.
To get better feedback you need to supply some detailed answers to the questions posed in the post above.

Linton

Checked with the FCA register - it would appear that Hansard has not been authorised to operate in the UK for many years prior to the dates on the OP's graph.

Seller

Sadly my IFA, recommended by a work colleague, was and still is based in the Middle East, where I was working at the time and is long gone. The policy above can only be claimed when I'm 70. Surely that was bad advice? Is there any claim I can make directly against Hansard?

HappyHarry

You will need to complain to either the IFA - if the business still exists - or use whatever complaints procedure exists in the Middle Eastern country that you purchased the product in.

You may find that you have limited come back unfortunately. Few countries have the level of regulation  and protection available to clients of IFAs that the UK benefits from.

MorningcoffeeIV

Seller said:

Is there any claim I can make directly against Hansard?

No.

If I sell you cornflakes when you asked for a bread roll, you can't sue Kellogs.

Seller

MorningcoffeeIV said:

Seller said:

Is there any claim I can make directly against Hansard?

No.

If I sell you cornflakes when you asked for a bread roll, you can't sue Kellogs.

I didn't ask for a bread roll though, did I? I was sold a poorly performing financial product. Is that not an issue with the Product's managers that it performed so poorly? i.e. mismanagement or negligence?

dunstonh

Has anyone else been conned by so called "Independent" Financial Advisers selling you investment policies which then turn out to be poor investments due to being front loaded with charges and with large exit fees where they keep most of the funds?

That is very unlikely.  IFAs haven't been able to retail products with exit fees since 2012.  The exception being SCARPS but they are a very niche product and for fixed terms.  

In my case, I was sold three different Hansard Europe/Global products, which have never performed well and will cost me a fortune to get out of. Example performance below. I'd have been better putting the cash under the mattress. 

Their product range is not normally used by IFAs.  They tend to be used by expats by sales reps based overseas.

Sadly my IFA, recommended by a work colleague, was and still is based in the Middle East, where I was working at the time and is long gone. The policy above can only be claimed when I'm 70. Surely that was bad advice? Is there any claim I can make directly against Hansard?

That means they are not an IFA.  At least not in the UK sense.  The middle east and far east are very lightly regulated and rules that apply to one country do not apply to other countries.   So, you shouldn't expect UK regulation and standards to be replicated by other countries.

HappyHarry

Seller said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

Seller said:

Is there any claim I can make directly against Hansard?

No.

If I sell you cornflakes when you asked for a bread roll, you can't sue Kellogs.

I didn't ask for a bread roll though, did I? I was sold a poorly performing financial product. Is that not an issue with the Product's managers that it performed so poorly? i.e. mismanagement or negligence?

You are unlikely to succeed with any complaint that is based on performance of an investment. All investments have good and poor periods, and complaining about a bad period is not going to get you very far. Even the UK, with its high levels of regulation and consumer friendly complaints process does not support consumers with allegations of poor performance. 

eskbanker

Seller said:
I was sold a poorly performing financial product. Is that not an issue with the Product's managers that it performed so poorly? i.e. mismanagement or negligence?

How are you defining 'poor' performance, i.e. against what benchmark?  Please don't say that you're simply looking at a reduction in value and concluding that this must be poor performance - hopefully your adviser explained the concept of investments going down as well as up!