Lighthouse background
The censure refers to advice given by Lighthouse between April 1, 2015 and April 30, 2019, during which the company advised 1,567 customers, of which 262 were BSPS members.
The total value of the defined benefit pension schemes on which Lighthouse gave advice was £655,046,598 with an average transfer value of approximately £325,295 for non-BSPS pension transfer customers and approximately £482,603 for BSPS customers, according to the regulator.
The FCA said Lighthouse had two advisers partially based on site at British Steel’s works in Scunthorpe, and many of those advised by Lighthouse were relying on their BSPS pension as their main source of retirement income.
“Many were in a vulnerable position due to uncertainty around the scheme,” the FCA said.
The advisers did not challenge the reasons for BSPS members wanting to transfer their pension, nor did they properly consider alternatives to meet their retirement objectives, and in some cases they failed to provide evidence as to why a transfer was in the best interest of the members.
As a result, 53 per cent of advice provided to BSPS members was unsuitable, higher than the industry average of 46 per cent.
Some 28 per cent of the remainder of Lighthouse’s advice during the period to non-BSPS consumers was unsuitable.
sally.hickey@ft.com
