The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reported ‘serious and ongoing failings’ by a number of financial advisers with regards to SIPP investments. The main failings generally revolve around advisers not ensuring SIPP investments are safe and suitable for investors’ needs.
One of the advisers which has faced disciplinary action from the FCA is Tailormade Independent. Tailormade was involved with encouraging customers to transfer existing pensions into a variety of unregulated investments via SIPPs, including investments in:
- Biofuels
- Green oil
- Farmland
- Overseas property, including investments with property firm Harlequin, which has since been liquidated.
Tailormade Independent itself has now gone into liquidation, with three of its directors now being banned from holding any further senior roles within the financial industry.
According to the FCA, the directors of Tailormade failed to ensure that the SIPP pension products they recommended were suitable for customers’ needs, as well as failing to uphold transparency around activities that posed a conflict of interest. For more information about Tailormade’s mismanagement of SIPP investments, visit our recent blog post.