Thousands of customers trapped for over two years in Hartley's Sipps can now start transferring to Morgan Lloyd, which has been appointed by Hartley’s administrators as the nominated operator.
The pensions management and administration business has been appointed to receive the transfer after a period of due diligence by administrators UHY Hacker Young and interaction with the FCA.
Anthony Carty, director of Morgan Lloyd’s parent company Clifton Asset Management, said the appointment “marks a new chapter” for Hartley clients.
The trouble for clients began in 2022, when Hartley Pensions announced the administrators were being brought in.
“Morgan Lloyd’s robust proprietary technology has been built to scale so our business is ready and able to support the transfer process,” he said.
“There is a journey ahead, as we work through areas of poor data and more complex cases within the Hartley Sipp book but our focus will be to provide stability and reassurance throughout.
“I have confidence that our highly experienced team can restore integrity to the pension schemes of Hartley Sipp clients.”
To streamline the transfer process, Hartley Sipp clients have already been informed by UHY Hacker Young that they will be transferred out in tranches.
There has also been confirmation from the FSCS that funding has been made available to cover the cost of the transfer out process.
Clients do not have to transfer to Morgan Lloyd but in this case, these clients will have to choose another Sipp provider.
Additionally, assets with significant issues that impact scheme viability or which have faced sanction from HMRC will not move across to Morgan Lloyd.
As previously reported by FT Adviser, this may include those clients who had money tied up in storage pods, for example.
John Dowding, technical director of Morgan Lloyd, added: “While we acknowledge the complexities and challenges ahead, our priority is to make this transition as smooth as possible, upholding the standards of service that clients rightly expect and deserve.
“We will continue working closely with the administrators and relevant stakeholders to make this possible.”
Timeline
There is no set timeline as to when the transfers will begin but it is expected that documents will be posted to clients who will move to Morgan Lloyd in mid-late July 2024.
According to UHY Hacker Young, the transfer out process consists of the following steps:
1. sending out the Documents to clients – this is expected to continue to September 2024;
2. the documents returned by clients within 45 days;
3. any queries on the documents are reconciled; and
4. transfer out commences at the point where documents are either agreed by clients or otherwise reconciled.
Hartley Pensions clients have been waiting a long time for the transfer process to gather speed.
The firm first went into administration at the request of the Financial Conduct Authority back in July 2022.
At the time, director Tony Flanagan warned clients in a letter: "There may be an imminent risk that the value of your pension at Hartley Pensions Ltd will be reduced and that funds within your pension scheme will be used to fund administration and liquidation costs.
