Not upheld: General financial advice complaint against Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Limited

Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5321514 of 2025-06-23T00:00:00+00:00. General financial advice complaint against Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Limited. Outcome: Not upheld.

Decision detail

Reference	DRN-5321514
Decision date	2025-06-23T00:00:00+00:00
Firm	Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Limited
Product	Investment
Claim type	General financial advice
Outcome	Not upheld
Remedy	None. Bestinvest's apology for an agent incorrectly directing Mr G to complain to company F was deemed a reasonable resolution.

Summary

Mr G complained that Bestinvest charged him adviser fees through company F without providing any advisory service. Bestinvest explained the SDIS was a non-advice service where they provided research and tools, and that fees were clearly disclosed from 2015. The ombudsman found Bestinvest provided sufficient transparent information about the service, charges, and non-advisory nature, and gave Mr G multiple opportunities to review suitability and switch services. The complaint was not upheld as Bestinvest did not treat Mr G unfairly.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Bestinvest provided clear information from 2015 onwards about what the SDIS service was (non-advice), what charges applied, and how they were paid. The documents explicitly stated no personal investment advice was provided. Mr G was given multiple opportunities to review the service suitability (2015, 2018, and 2024) and options to switch services or terminate the agreement. The firm was transparent about the dual charging structure and the purpose of their fees.

How this compares

Group	Decisions	Uphold rate
Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Limited, all decisions	22	34%
General financial advice, all decisions	4,578	36%
Investment, all decisions	14,114	34%

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website