Birmingham adviser firm goes into default following store pods SIPP advice
Entered administration 30 December
Birmingham-based adviser firm Anthony Feeney Financial Services has entered administration following a number of pension and investment claims made against it.
The firm entered administration on 30 December 2019. Any upheld claims made against it will now fall onto the shoulders of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
The lifeboat fund told PA it has received 45 claims against the firm so far. Two have been successful, with £82,500 paid in compensation, while one was unsuccessful, leaving 43 claims in progress.
Earlier this year Professional Adviser revealed Liverpool-based law firm Smooth Commercial Law were working with around 20 clients of Anthony Feeney FS.
Most of the cases were, at the time, headed towards a Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) decision. According to the law firm, most of the clients were typical "run of the mill" savers who were not looking to invest adventurously but were advised to do so.
The two lawyers working on the case, Paul McKittrick and Scott Birchall, had been working on Anthony Feeney FS-related matters for two years.
There are 25 upheld and published decisions against the firm on the ombudsman's website. Each complaint related to individuals being transferred out of pension schemes and into a self-invested personal pension, with some individuals then investing their pension into ‘store pods', a type of self-storage unit and an investment not regulated nor protected by the FSCS.
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