Firm calls 'fraud': Wellington Court told to compensate client but claims it never gave advice

Advice fee drawn from client’s SIPP

Ayesha Venkataraman
clock • 8 min read

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has sided with a client who claimed that adviser firm Wellington Court had given him unsuitable advice to invest his pension proceeds into a high-risk investment which lost most of its value.

The client, Mr S, said that a cold call in 2015 led to a meeting being arranged with Wellington Court, where he was advised to transfer a personal pension to a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) administered by Guinness Mahon Trust Corporation (GMTC). After a risk assessment found him to be medium-low risk, the ombudsman said, he was advised to invest his transfer proceeds in Dolphin Capital, a German property development scheme that has since failed. Mr S then filed a complaint with Wellington Court in 2019, who in turn alleged that Mr S had never been its customer and that any paper...

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