If you have lost money by investing in the Discretionary Fund Manager (DFM) Horizon Stockbroking you may be entitled to financial compensation.
Horizon Stockbroking was forced to provide compensation for not acting in the best interest of their clients’ prior to going into liquidation. The company has been ruled against by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in six out of six cases. The now closed down DFM did not act in its clients’ best interests by letting them make investments that were deemed to be high risk.
Introducers That Were Unregulated
Clients were sold into an investment by introducer firms that were unregulated. However, the initial advice to switch their pension may likely have come from an IFA company that was regulated.
After the pension was transferred into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), the application form was completed by a third party that was unregulated. The application form was titled ‘Understanding and Experience’ and included investments such as options, futures, spread betting, FX, CFDs, shares etc.
Inappropriate Investments
The majority of clients were subject to the influence of introducers that were unregulated and Horizon Stockbroking performed independent assessments of each clients’ application. The company was also responsible for determining if their clients had any experience in making investments themselves or if they possessed the necessary knowledge of the types of investments that were selected.
The FOS’s opinion was that Horizon Stockbroking should not have approved their client application forms without firstly assessing their experience and level of knowledge. By not doing this, they caused their clients to suffer financially.
On the 15 May 2018 a petition to have the company wound up was successfully filed.
Reach Out For Help
If you invested with Horizon Stockbroking and have concerns about how they performed you should have all of your transactions with the company reviewed.
If it is found to be the case that the company didn’t follow the regulations and rules correctly you may be entitled to compensation.
Next Steps
Call us now for a phone or video consultation with one of our legal experts on 0800 041 8358 to find out if you are entitled to compensation, you may even be entitled to additional compensation if you have successfully claimed in the past.
