With effect from 25 July 2016, Heritage Pensions is now the operator of the Brooklands Sipp and IVCM Heritage Trustees are the trustees of the Brooklands Sipp, the administrators said.
Paul Evans, chief executive of IVCM, told International Adviser on Tuesday that he had been looking to sell the UK operation for some time but it has been necessary to use the pre-pack administration process because the company was facing uncertainty on possible liabilities from some provisional FOS adjudications against it.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has provisionally ruled against Brooklands regarding investment failures on clients who were advised by financial adviser firms, and Evans said using the pre-pack administration process for the sale of the Sipp assets to Heritage “provides certainty for the transaction”.
The transaction has received formal UK approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.
A new Sipp launched last October by IVCM and Heritage is unaffected by these changes
IVCM ongoing
Last year Brooklands had renamed its companies around the world as IVCM and these will continue to operate unaffected by the changes in the UK. They will also continue to provide administration services to the existing Sipps and remain the main point of contact for financial advisers and clients.
“The Sipp is now over with Heritage, all the client monies and assets are perfectly safe and always have been as they are held under trust. Heritage are now the formal trustee and operator in the UK and IVCM will still be doing the administration on their behalf,” he added.
Heritage Pensions is authorised and regulated by the FCA and is a well-established provider of bespoke self-invested pension arrangements with a great reputation for administration and service.
“There will be little impact to the existing Sipp members and their pension as the main terms and conditions and fees for the Sipp will not be changing,” Evans said.
“Furthermore, both companies are as focused as ever on delivering great service to our customers and this means we can continue to deliver an ever better service as well as new products and additional benefits by way of support and technology improvements,” he added.
Colin Worbey, managing director of Heritage Pensions, said: “the acquisition strengthens the scope and position of both Heritage and IVCM as the strengths of each company are complimentary.”
