Ombudsman data shows ISA misselling claims up 166%

Risk profiles not matching

Carmen Reichman
clock • 2 min read

Misselling complaints relating to stocks and shares ISAs have spiked in the last year, according to figures released by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The number of cases landing at the FOS in 2015 was up 166% on the previous year, from 75 complaints to 200, the regulatory body said. It had shared the data with digital wealth manager MoneyFarm, which said it was concerned fund managers and advisers were misleading investors over the nature of the underlying investments in ISAs. It said many of the complaints brought against providers or advisers centred on a "deliberate exaggeration" of the expected returns of the ISA or the "deliberate playing down" of the risks involved in the product. FOS cannot adjudicate on the performance o...

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