IFAs in pension fight

Manchester firm Halliwell Landau is looking to build a consortium of independent financial advisers (IFAs) to challenge the pensions watchdog over a decision which it claims could leave IFAs open to allegations that they mis-sold pensions.The firm's pensions department is seeking a judicial review after the Personal Investment Authority (PIA) ruled that one of its clients mis-sold a pension in 1990 by only advising on personal pensions schemes.

The PIA said IFAs are also under a duty to provide comparative advice on occupational pension schemes.

However, Halliwell Landau argues that the duty only arose after guidance was introduced in 1994, and that the PIA should not be applying this to acts done before it came into force.

Halliwells' pensions unit head, Louise Curd, urged other companies which might be affected to come forward.'We believe this decision is fundamentally flawed,' she said.

'It is also potentially very wide-reaching as it may impact on all IFAs, especially those who have found themselves in a similar position or who are likely to as a result of the ongoing review of personal pension schemes sold in the early 1990s.' A spokeswoman for the Financial Services Authority, which incorporates the PIA, said IFAs were bound by the general guidelines in existence before 1994.

'At the time the policies were sold, sales still had to be suitable to the circumstances of the consumer, and in this case they weren't,' she explained.Paula Rohan