Portal Financial Services LPP (trading as Portal Financial or Portafina) has had over 200 complaints reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Services in relation to the pension advice given to clients and the arrangements of high-risk investments.
Not only did Portafina fail to act in its customers' best interests at the time of advice, but it also continued to treat customers unfairly when dealing with complaints – by either settling complaints late or providing erroneous loss calculations for failing to compensate clients at all.
Pension Transfers
Portafina offered their service online offering and via mail shots, offering to assist people to access to their tax-free cash at age 55.
Cherish Wealth Management, another failed advice firm, also had a close introducer relationship with Portal which was reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Services.
Whilst Cherish was authorised to give investment advice they did not have the regulatory permissions to advise on pension transfers.
Whilst Portafina explained it had conducted compliance and due diligence checks at the outset of its relationship with Cherish, the Ombudsman explained that the company had to ensure that the investment advice given was also suitable – and the advice was flawed.
When things went wrong Portafina offered goodwill gesture payments to clients, stating that they were making sure that clients were looked after until the funds from the investment companies were released and that they would pursue the people involved.
However, the directors of Portafina had close links via directorships to some of those high-risk investment firms…
And it comes as no surprise that the majority of people only received one or a couple of payments before the promise was broken.
Customer Complaints
When customers started raising complaints the firm tried to time bar them, explaining that, as customers were more than 6 years away from point of sale and more than 3 years away when they became an issue, the case could not be reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Services.
Check Your Statements
We suggest you check your annual statements and look out for the following investments:
- Biomass Investments
- Brisa Investments
- Cool Blue Samui
- EOS Solar
- Eco Planet Bamboo
- Hypa Asia Fund
- Raithwaites Hypa Fund
- Koroni Fund
- Lakeview UK
- Motion Picture Global
- Real Estate Investment
- Store First
- Strategic Residential
- Tambaba Investments Plc
- Venture Oil
You should also get the transaction reviewed if you have invested in alternative products.
If you have suffered losses by transferring your pension following the company’s advice, there may be a way for you to recover all or part of your losses by progressing a claim for compensation.
Get Claims Advice Now!
If you or a friend or family member had dealings with Portafina you should speak to one of our Financial Claims Consultants and let us review all the transactions which were made.
Please get in touch with us if you have any concerns about the advice you received or the way your investments are performing.
We have been fighting your corner for years – and may just know a trick or two, helping you to finally obtain compensation!
Contact us for an informal discussion to explore your options. You’ll also get a better understanding of how we work before deciding on your best course of action.
Pension Claims Experts
ACL Consultancy Ltd have been in operation as a claims management company (CMC) for over 10 years and have offered the lowest flat fee service in the industry since 2017. We welcome the new Financial Conduct Authority regulation to put a cap on CMC fees.
We are able to work for a reasonable fee because we don’t buy your data from the companies involved in your claim. We pass these cost savings on to you. Our success is your gain.
Our team possess a deep knowledge of pension and investment compensation, including overseas property investment, and welcome your call to find what solutions are available to you. So, you’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain by calling us today.