Copia Wealth management loses IFISA manager status a year after liquidation
Copia Wealth Management has had its Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) permissions removed, more than a year after the company went into liquidation.
On 9 September 2020, Copia Wealth Management went into liquidation, amid concerns around mis-sold investments and pension transfers. HMRC removed the company’s ISA permissions on 1 November 2021.
Earlier this year, it was reported that 149 complaints against Copia had been upheld by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
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The Manchester-based wealth manager held three IFISAs: Absolute ISA, Alpha ISA, Westway ISA.
The Westway IFISA aimed to solve the problem of the under-served supported housing sector by offering an alternative source of funding for developers, while targeting 8.5 per cent in annual returns for investors.
By November 2019 the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) had begun to recieve complaints about the company.
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Many of these complaints appear unrelated to the company’s IFISA business, focusing instead on the loss of funds due to poor investment advice.
It has been alleged that Copia inappropriately advised clients to transfer their pension savings into self-invested personal pensions, which often came with higher fees than the clients’ original pension plans.
The firm has also been accused of putting client money into inappropriately high-risk investments without fully explaining the risk of capital loss.
Copia Wealth Management was authorised and regulated in 2013, with Daniel Paterson and Floyd Paterson as directors.
According to Companies House records, both Patersons have gone on to establish Manchester-based estate agency My Property Club.
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