British Steel adviser enters liquidation; operates new firm from same premises
Entered liquidation in May
County Capital Wealth Management, which traded as The Pension Review Service, entered liquidation in May, while director and adviser Mark Abley has continued in advice, operating a firm of a different name from the same address, Professional Adviser can reveal.
County Capital WM entered liquidation in May 2020. Back in 2018, the firm was one of the initial cohort to be associated with giving up pension transfer permissions after advising British Steel workers.
Six months after it lost them, it regained its permissions after what it described as a "thorough" process working with the Financial Conduct Authority.
The firm has since entered liquidation. According to documents on Companies House, Birmingham-based Butcher Woods has been appointed liquidator.
Abley is still active in financial advice. He is managing director of Fathom Financial, which operates from the same Durham address as County Capital WM.
Fathom was incorporated in January 2017 under a different name - The Pension Review Service (North East) - but lay largely dormant until mid-2019. In August 2019 the company name was changed to Fathom Financial.
County Capital WM currently has no compensation claims against it at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, however, evidence of claims can be found at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), where there are two published decisions against it. Neither relate to defined benefit (DB) transfers.
It is not clear why County Capital WM entered liquidation, though the balance sheets available on Companies House suggest cash at the bank dwindled over the years. In 2018 the firm had £319,000 in cash, which fell dramatically to £63,000 the following year. According to the last balance sheet available, dated May 2020, the firm had just £18,000 in the bank.
Reviews from County Capital WM still appear on Abley's VouchedFor page, which lists him solely as working at Fathom Financial. When PA contacted VouchedFor about the reviews, the directory said it believed it is in consumers' best interests that they can read reviews left for an adviser while the adviser worked for another firm as it shows the consumer how good a job the adviser has been doing for their clients over time. Additionally, VouchedFor said its page made it clear the reviews were about Abley himself, rather than the firm.
Professional Adviser contacted Abley for comment.
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