On 25 April 2023 the self-invested personal pension provider (‘SIPP’) Gaudi Regulated Services Limited (‘Gaudi’) appointed joint administrators Sean Bucknall and Andrew Watling of Quantuma Advisory Limited. Gaudi entered administration following a number of upheld final decisions from the Financial Ombudsman Service (‘FOS’) regarding some investments it allowed within its SIPPs.
Having recognised the financial liabilities associated with these decisions and other FOS decisions, combined with the advice of insolvency practitioners who concluded the firm was insolvent, Gaudi’s board of directors decided to place the company in administration. Gaudi has since sold its pension business to Platform One Limited (‘Platform One’) who are regulated by the Financial Conduct Agency (‘FCA’).
Consequently, customers who had a SIPP administered by Gaudi can still contribute, withdraw, and make investment decisions as before. However, it means that all claims against the £1bn SIPP provider now fall to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (‘FSCS’). The FSCS is a lifeboat scheme funded by imposing a levy on the sector.
The FSCS stated in a report dated 26 April 2023 that Gaudi provided ‘white label’ SIPPs, these could be rebranded and modified by other firms. The FSCS are now investigating Gaudi and their ‘business partners’ who also administered the white label SIPPs.
At these early stages it is unclear how many claims against Gaudi there will be made or how much they will amount to. In the FOS’s most recent decision against Gaudi they required the firm to pay the maximum amount that could be awarded, implying losses could be high.
If you invested through a Gaudi SIPP, you should consider taking action, even if you have not been contacted by Gaudi’s liquidators.
