An “incompetent” financial advisor and Durham County Councillor will pay more than £100,000 in compensation to customers after giving bad advice to those wanting to invest their pensions.

Mark Abley, of County Capital Wealth Management Ltd (now in liquidation), has been banned from providing any advice on pension transfers after he advised 575 of his 595 customers, including 150 members of the British Steel Pension Scheme, to transfer out of their defined benefit pension schemes.

Over half of this advice (56 per cent) failed to meet the required standard, and showed a “lack of competence”, resulting in him giving unsuitable pension transfer advice, which put customer’s pensions at unnecessary risk against their best interest.

For more quality journalism, subscribe to The Northern Echo for £1.50 a week here. 

The Northern Echo:

Mr Abley had failed to obtain the information required to make a suitable recommendation and did not properly assess if the customer could understand and bear the financial risks of transferring their guaranteed pension.

He also failed to provide evidence to show that the transfers were in his customers’ best interest, and there were errors in the calculations used to compare customers’ existing pension schemes with the schemes it was proposed they transfer into. 

For providing this advice, Mr Abley received a financial benefit of £60,000, despite acting “without due skill, care and diligence”.

The Northern Echo: Mark Abley, financial advisor and councillor. Mark Abley, financial advisor and councillor. (Image: Durham County Council)

Additionally, he will pay £106,100 to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), to contribute towards the redress owed to CCWM customers. If he fails to pay this, the sum will be enforced as a fine by the FCA.

Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said: "Mr Abley’s incompetence meant that he failed to give customers the advice they needed to make a significant decision about their retirement.

"This included hundreds of people who were dealing with the uncertainty around the British Steel Pension Scheme. He earned fees while putting their retirement money at risk. It is only right that he contributes to the costs of compensating these customers.

Read next: 

"As of 14 March 2023, the FSCS has upheld 53 Pension Transfer claims against CCWM and paid out over £2.1m in compensation to customers of CCWM. Any customers who were advised to transfer should contact the FSCS to see if they are owed redress."

Though CCWM has now gone into liquidation, Mark Abley is now the Managing Director at Fathom Financial Ltd. He is also councillor at Durham County Council, representing the Tudhoe ward.

Mr Abley and Fathom Financial were approached by The Northern Echo. Neither made a comment.