Not upheld: Investment mis-selling complaint against Quilter Financial Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C, represented by a CMC, complained about investment advice provided by Quilter in March 2016 recommending he invest approximately £30,000-£37,000 in a stocks and shares ISA. Mr C was in his late 50s, self-employed, with no debts, and had received compensation for a failed pension investment. The CMC argued the advice was unsuitable due to inaccurate fact-finding, Mr C's limited experience, questionable risk assessment, and failure to recommend pension investment. The ombudsman found the advice was suitable because Mr C had adequate financial capacity, relevant investment experience, a long timeframe until retirement, and had explicitly preferred ISA investment for its flexibility and accessibility. The subsequent property purchase in 2018 was not foreseeable at the time of the 2016 advice.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that although the fact find contained some approximations in income and expenditure figures, these were not incongruous with Mr C's circumstances and did not materially affect the suitability of the advice. Mr C had sufficient disposable income, an adequate emergency fund, no debts, and a long investment timeframe (17 years until intended retirement). His previous investment experience with shareholdings and his stated preference for accessibility over pension investment supported the ISA recommendation. The medium risk level was appropriate given his experience, his capacity to withstand fluctuations, and the need to hedge against inflation. The subsequent property purchase in 2018 was not foreseeable at the time of advice in 2016, as Mr C had confirmed no planned capital expenditure. The ISA structure provided tax efficiency and flexibility that aligned with his stated objectives.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website