A rogue financial adviser who advised hundreds of clients to invest millions in controversial storage pods has been banned for nine years.
Keith Popplewell’s bad SIPP pension advice to clients has triggered a flood of complaints to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which has paid out £1.5 million to 61 investors – and has another 169 claims are in the pipeline.
Popplewell ran The Pensions Office as a respected financial industry figure until 2013, when the Financial Conduct Authority banned the firm for giving dubious regulated pension advice to clients.
The FCA revealed The Pensions Office did not provide client reviews the regulator required at six monthly intervals from September 2010 and failed to fully explain investment advice to clients introduced by third parties.
Risky investments
The Insolvency Office stepped in to investigate the company when it was placed into liquidation and says Popplewell did not give his clients best advice considering their financial circumstances and attitudes to risk.
They accuse him of poorly managing his company by failing to impose controls or risk analysis to safeguard investors.
The investigation revolved around Popplewell giving pension clients advice to put their low-risk retirement savings into high-risk storage pods investments held in SIPP pensions.
The Insolvency Service uncovered 327 clients who invested £12 million into the storage pods.
“Since at least 16 July 2012 Keith Popplewell has misused his position as an approved person with the regulatory authority by failing to ensure that The Pensions Office properly advised its clients on the transfer of low-risk personal and occupation pension products into SiPPS and failing to advise clients on the high-risk unregulated underlying investment, much of which was into Storepod investments,” said the Insolvency Service.
Client list sold to wife’s firm
Following claims that his wife Sue Popplewell had bought The Pension Office client database when the firm went into liquidation, she has confirmed some of the complaints before the FSCS were from her husband’s former clients.
The client list was bought for £3,500 by United Claims Management.
Sue Popplewell runs United Claims Management, which helps people mis-sold ‘worthless’ investments claim compensation.
She was also a 50% shareholder in The Pensions Office.
