Vintage Investment Services
Vintage Investment Services (FRN 142806), also trading as Vintage, was a Stockton-on-Tees-based financial advisory firm that provided advice across pensions, investments, insurance and mortgages. The firm’s FCA authorisation was removed in October 2024, and it had previously been declared in default by the FSCS.
The FSCS declared Vintage Investment Services in default on 17 January 2023. By the time the investigation concluded, the FSCS had paid out £1.07 million in compensation to the firm’s former clients, against a total estimated claims value of £1.7 million. The firm’s key failing centred on the quality of its pension transfer advice, particularly in relation to the British Steel Pension Scheme.
In November 2024, the FCA announced bans on two of the firm’s advisers, Steven Hodgson and Paul Adams, for their roles in the mis-selling. Both men had advised clients to transfer out of defined benefit pension schemes, including the BSPS, without proper assessment of suitability. As part of the outcome, Hodgson was required to contribute £32,700 and Adams £53,200 to the FSCS to help meet redress owed to victims.
Issues / Why You May Have a Claim
Steelworkers and other defined benefit pension holders who were advised to transfer out of their scheme by Vintage Investment Services may have been put at severe long-term financial disadvantage. The BSPS and other defined benefit pensions offer guaranteed income in retirement that cannot be replicated by most alternative investments. Where that advice was driven by commission or fees rather than the client’s best interests, it represents a serious breach of regulatory duty.
