We previously highlighted the Government-backed watchdog, the Financial Ombudsman’s (FOS) ruling against Portafina LLP (Portal Financial Services).
The upheld FOS complaint found that the claimant had received unsuitable financial advice and had been persuaded to transfer her pension into a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) with funds that carried higher fees and risk.
Portal/Portafina complaints
+ −This was not an isolated case and TLW Solicitors has seen a number of similar upheld FOS complaints both before and after this finding. A recurring theme is that financial advice is given to invest in complex and high-risk, sometimes unregulated, funds that appear completely unsuitable to a client’s needs and investment experience. Many of the investors suffered financial loss as a result and have recovered compensation.
Some of the investments and funds mentioned in the upheld FOS complaints include:
- Raithwaites Hypa Fund
- Hypa Asia Fund
- Venture Oil International
- EOS Solar Energy
- JP SPC Koroni Fund
- Biomass Investments
- Brisa Investments
- Strategic Residential Dev
- Lakeview UK Investments
- Marbella Resort & Spa
- Real Estate Investments USA
- Motion Picture Global Investments
- Strategic Residential Developments
- Tambaba Investments
No more financial advice
+ −Earlier this year, it was reported that Portal Financial Services had cancelled its regulatory permissions. It announced that restructuring within the firm meant they would no longer be providing financial advice to new customers.
Their website now states:
‘Please note that Portal Financial Services LLP are no longer taking on any new clients.’
The move followed a total of 22 complaints between March and July 2021, which have been upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS website continues to show numerous recent Portal/Portafina related decisions.
Pension Mis-selling Claims Specialists
+ −TLW Solicitors has a dedicated SIPP and Pensions mis-selling claims team. We are specialists in claiming compensation for those who have been mis-sold pension investments. Members of the team also specialise in cases where investors have received unsuitable advice to transfer out of a defined benefit (DB), company or final salary pension scheme.
DB pension schemes are a very solid and dependable source of retirement income and there must be an extremely good reason to transfer from them into a riskier type of investment. Some of the FOS complaints against Portal/Portafina have involved such DB transfers.
Comment from Sarah Spruce
+ −Sarah Spruce, Head of TLW’s Professional Negligence Team commented:
“If you have any concerns regarding the announcement of the closure of Portal/Portafina to new business, or the investments they’ve advised you on, no matter how long ago you transferred your pension, or whether you’ve been rejected for compensation by either Portal/Portafina or The Financial Ombudsman Service, please get in touch.”
TLW Solicitors Can Help
+ −Working on a ‘no win – no fee’ basis, TLW’s experienced team can help you through the claims process. You can contact TLW Solicitors by calling 0800 169 5925, emailing info@tlwsolicitors.co.uk or completing the callback form.
Time limits can apply so anyone wishing to make a claim should do so without delay.
Meet Our Team
Meet Sarah, who heads up our experienced Pension Claims team.
Sarah and her colleagues are on hand to help with your claim.
TLW Solicitors pledge to:
- Always fight your corner.
- Explain anything you don't understand.
- Provide full transparency on our charges.
- Never ask for any upfront payment.
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