Personal Pension Plan Decision Reference 2023-0146

• Case Outcome: Rejected
• Subject Matter: Personal Pension Plan
• Reference: 2023-0146
• Date: 11 July 2023
• Finantial Sector: Investment
• Conducts Complained Of: Value of policy at surrender less than expected or projected,Product not suitable

Decision Ref:

2023-0146

Sector:

Investment

Product / Service:

Personal Pension Plan

Conduct(s) complained of:

Value of policy at surrender less than expected or

projected

Product not suitable

Outcome:

Rejected

LEGALLY BINDING DECISION OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN

This complaint relates to several investments held by the Complainant with the Provider.

The Complainant’s Case

In early 2018, the Complainant was engaged in investing for the purpose of building his

pension fund. In a submission to this Office dated 13 June 2019, the Complainant sets out:

“I wish to complain about the services/advice provided to me regarding an

investment I undertook with [the Provider].”

The Complainant says that he invested in several products suggested by the Provider and

that the Provider set out four investment funds to him during a meeting in January 2018.

The Complainant has submitted a receipt from the Provider in relation to payment

instruction in the amount of €110,000.00 for the purpose of a “Pension Investment”. In his

submission dated 13 June 2019, the Complainant stated:

“On the 27 March 2019 I got a letter from [the Provider] stating the value of (1)

[GTW] was down to E6730.75 from the E25,000 I had invested only 12 months prior.

Also the Policy (2) [OTW] 17 was down to E12,882.50 from E25,000.00. Loss so far on

these 2 policies alone is E30,387.75. I have not got a Review as yet of (3) and (4) but

am terrified they could lose heavily too”.

- 2 -

/Cont’d…

In his submission to this Office dated 13 June 2019, the Complainant also stated:

“These are huge risk policies in my view and not at all what I was looking for. I am a

very cautious man and have saved this money over the last 30 years working hard for

it. To have it flitted away in this High stakes gamble is NEVER ever what I signed up

for. I feel I was sold a pup with regard to valuable financial information. I do not know

where I stand with regard to any rights I might have over this issue, hence the letter

of complaint”.

The Complainant added that:

“I wish to complain very strongly about the advice I was given was very very high risk

and in no way would I have signed up had I known the huge fluctuations involved, I

cannot afford that risk.”

In a letter to the Provider dated 01 May 2019, the Complainant stated:

“I wish to complain strongly that I was sold a very high risk investment with no

information about how bad it could get [i]n no way would I have ever put this amount

of money on such a high risk investment with no information about how bad it could

get”.

In an email sent to this Office dated 19 May 2020, the Complainant said that:

“I thought I was investing with some degree of security after my very very cautious

approach to investment over the past 25 years. To have all funds wiped in space of a

few months is unbelievable”.

The Provider’s Case

The Provider describes its meeting with the Complainant in January 2018 in its Final

Response Letter dated 11th June 2019:

“In our meeting in January 2018, we discussed that you had funds sitting in a cash

account after other investments matured […] in your Small Self-Administered Pension

and we discussed how you would invest these funds. We discussed that the risk

profiling carried out with you classified you as a balanced investor…”

In 2020, when responding to the formal investigation of this Office, the Provider set out the

sequence of events as set out below.

2010:

• 3rd March 2010: The Complainant emailed the Provider indicating his interest in

discussing his self-administered pension fund with the Provider.