Case Studies

Mr W had a final salary pension scheme with a transfer value of around £107,000. This represented all of his retirement savings, and he was dependent upon this money to fund his future retirement. With this in mind, he did not want to place the fund at any risk.

Ms N had an occupational pension fund of around £18,000 and required a low-risk option that would preserve the capital she had and offer a reasonable rate of future growth. She was not seeking an investment with high elements of risk involved.

He had pension savings of slightly over £32,000 and did not want to take any risks with this money as he was approaching retirement. He would therefore have little opportunity to make back any losses which may potentially be suffered through higher risk investments.

Mrs B had a mainstream personal pension fund valued at slightly over £30,000. This was the entirety of her retirement savings and she was reliant upon this money for her future retirement. Due to this, she required a low risk pension savings strategy which would keep her capital secure.

Mr S held two mainstream personal pension funds worth a combined total of slightly over £57,000. He did not have any significant savings or investments elsewhere and therefore wanted to be cautious with how these pension funds were used.

He was persuaded to transfer £33,000 of his pension into a property fund investment where the level of risk greatly exceeded that which he was prepared to take. He was not advised that the fund he invested into was both volatile and an unregulated scheme.

They sold business properties that they owned in order to help fund their retirement and sought advice from their bank on how best to invest the sale proceeds. They made it clear that they required an investment product which would provide income to meet costs and maintain their living standards during their retirement years.

Mrs H had a final salary occupational pension plan, which was valued at slightly over £73,000. She met with a financial adviser and was told that higher levels of return could be obtained by making a transfer to alternative funds.

Mr W approached us for advice, and we acted on his behalf in a claim for compensation for both the capital and interest that had been lost on the investment. We were able to negotiate a settlement of his claim. He received a total of £56,500 in compensation.

Mr R had a pension fund worth over £340,000 and met with a financial adviser to discuss his retirement options. He was persuaded to put the full amount into an investment plan and to draw income at a rate of £20,000 per year.

Mr and Mrs S held pension funds with a major provider worth a combined total of approximately £44,000. A financial adviser told them that a better rate of return could be achieved elsewhere and persuaded them to transfer the full amount to a fund which invested in commercial property.

Mr and Mrs L were both retired and decided to sell their home and move into rented sheltered accommodation. They had around £100,000 capital following the sale of their property and received enough of a monthly income from their pensions to meet immediate rent payments and other bills. They intended to use their capital to fund futur