Hi, I just hope someone finds this useful and does not need to go through the same experience as I did.In 2021 I transferred my UK pension in to the care of Abbey Wealth Management. Within a few months, my portfolio significantly lost value. My advisor showed little on no proactive management and then disappeared entirely, no word, no email, just gone. I was eventually informed my advisor had left Abbey and I was assigned a new one. I was never able to get in touch with the new advisor and after months of trying I eventually started the official complaints process at Abbey Wealth. As their final offer they proposed me a small rebate on part of the fees that they had collected. I refused.Looking through the TrustPilot reviews I saw than many people were experiencing the same lack of service. I became interested in the back story and it turned out to be, well, very interesting. After a bit of digging I found out that the CEO of AWM had founded PLU Financial (UK) in March 2023. At that same time three senior AWM employees/financial advisers left AWM to staff PLU Financial (UK). In Feb 2024, those same three advisors incorporated incorporated a separate entity, PLU Group Holdings (UK) but continued to do business under the trade name (PLU financial). i.e. the same trading name, web page, logo and employees but a different company number.Subsequently, I found that my advisor (Mark Smith) left AWM for PLU in March 2024. Whilst digging I counted that at least 10 AWM employees (senior managers, advisors and clerical) had moved to the new entity (four in 2023 and six in 2024). Mark Smith and others now claim 5-star performance on the Trust Pilot page at PLU with customers which clearly date from their employment at AWM.Meanwhile the customer service at AWM deteriorated to the point of non-existence, as witnessed by my own experience and witnessed through one-star Trust Pilot reviews of fellow customers. I draw attention to the 36 five-star reviews for AWM in December 2024. This is, well, how can we put it, statisically improbable given the history of reviews before and after.I invite you to reflect on the following:Have you ever wondered how financial advisors can consistently beat the market?Do you think the ex AWM employees would have left AWM for PLU if the company had not been set up by the senior management of AWM?Do you think customers at AWM would have received better service and advice if the employees had not left en-masse?Can reviews be accepted at face value? May I suggest verifying the profile of any reviewer, if it’s their only review...I don’t want to make any accusations but I encourage you to do some research.I took my complaint to the FSPO (financial ombudsman in Ireland) and went through the mediation process. It was a complete waste of time. I enquired about putting my case through the ‘formal’ FSPO process. I was informed this would take more than 4 years for a decision.In short, my attempt at getting the FSPO to do what I thought was their job came to nothing. I tried. To no avail.Thus, from bitter experience, I urge anyone considering using a financial services company, especially one not covered by your home country’s consumer protection laws, to reflect very carefully. PLU financial UK company number: 14757268PLU Group UK company number: 15489465All of my observations can be verified by cross-checking AWM and PLU trust Pilot pages with published Linkedin profiles. I hope you found this useful.
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