Octopus Investments has defended its record on investor transparency and managing conflicts of interest within its flagship inheritance tax scheme, following a report in The Telegraph criticising a lack of disclosure on its lending to Octopus-backed businesses that ended up in default.
The Telegraph's report centred on the lending activities of Fern Trading, the underlying investment company for the £3.2bn Octopus Inheritance Tax Service (OITS), which has around 18,000 investors and has been operating for more than a decade. According to The Telegraph, Fern made loans to two companies that were part owned by the wider Octopus Group but were later written off as they ran into trouble. Fern lent £64m to private hospital group One Healthcare, but it had to write off the debt after the business ran into difficulties and subsequently took control of the company. The Tele...
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