Deputy Pensions Ombudsman upholds complaints against trustees of Focus Group Administration pension scheme

The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has upheld two complaints made against the trustees of the Focus Group Administration Pension Scheme, with Simon Williams (the former sole trustee of the scheme) ordered to repay over £730,000 into the scheme.

The scheme was established in March 2013, with Williams as sole trustee and Glenn House, sole director of Brambles Administration Limited, as the administrator (Brambles). Williams was the sole director and shareholder of Focus Administration Limited (Focus), the scheme’s sponsoring employer. From 2016, Focus was appointed as sole trustee by Williams.

The complainants claimed that the trustees had failed to:

1. Comply with statutory requirements, guidance from the Pensions Regulator and governance requirements.
2. Operate the necessary controls to ensure the effective and transparent administration of the scheme and had committed multiple acts of maladministration.
3. Comply with their various duties, under statute and case law, concerning the investment of the Scheme’s assets and facilitated a sophisticated pensions liberation arrangement.

11 members transferred a total of approximately £830,000 of pension benefits into the Scheme.  One complainant lost nearly 50 per cent of his pension, while the second complainant said he had lost his entire pension.

The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman found that Williams and Focus had committed multiple breaches of trust and, alongside Brambles, many acts of maladministration resulting in the loss of scheme funds which severely impacted the pension pots of scheme members.

Williams and Brambles were also ordered to pay each complainant £6,000 in recognition of the distress and inconvenience.

In its press release on the determination, the Pensions Ombudsman noted that the determination was reached after an extensive investigation carried out by the Pensions Dishonesty Unit (the PDU). The PDU was established in November 2021 to investigate allegations of serious breaches of trust, misappropriation of pension funds and dishonest or fraudulent behaviour by trustees.  The determination has been shared with the Pensions Regulator.