British Steel advice firm fails

UK lifeboat scheme has already received 17 claims against the company

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The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has announced that Argent Wealth Limited was liquidated on 20 January 2022.

The advice firm, which traded as Orchard Financial Planners and Morley James Asset Management, was one of the companies associated with the British Steel Pension Scheme scandal.

The FSCS added that clients of the firm may be eligible for compensation and should check if they can claim.

The UK lifeboat scheme said in a statement: “During 2017, many British Steel workers were advised to transfer out of their defined benefit pension into a defined contribution pension, known as a personal pension plan or a self-invested personal pension (Sipp).

“By transferring to a private pension arrangement, they would have lost the benefits already built up in the BSPS. It may not have been realistic to achieve the same level of benefits from their new plan. The advice they received may not have been the best advice for them.”

Claims

The FSCS told International Adviser that it has already received 17 claims against the firm.

Out of the 17, eight claims have been about the BSPS scandal. All claims are in progress.

The UK lifeboat scheme did not state why the advice company entered into liquidation.