A consultant whose firm was formerly part of the Tenet network is furious after the collapsed company’s administrators wrote to his clients asking them if they had received “inappropriate advice”.
The consultant, who wished to remain anonymous, said he considered the letter to be “misleading” and that it “leads clients to form negative assumptions about consulting firms.”
The letter, seen by the FT adviser, states: “(The administrators) have noted that you may have previously received advice from (name of adviser) and that advice may have included issues relating to the transfer of defined benefit pensions.
“As a result, you may have received unsuitable advice and if you have suffered harm as a result, you may be entitled to compensation.”
The consultant was an authorized representative of Tenet before the network went into receivership in June 2024.
The adviser told FT Adviser: “I am angry. There was never a complaint against me or the company. We were part of the Tenet network until 2023 and then went in a different direction.”
“When we worked with Tenet, we did a number of transfers of defined benefit pension plans and there were no issues with any of them. There are no complaints and there never have been any.
“I am very close to my clients, so I have no fear that I will get into legal trouble. But my clients have used words like ‘concerned’ to describe their reaction when they read the letter, and I can’t blame them.
“If you looked up Interpath you would see that it was the insolvency business that was part of KPMG, a blue-chip company. I find it appalling that they wrote these letters, it’s just inviting trouble.”
Tenet had already received an S166 certificate shortly before the insolvency began.
The aim of an FCA notice S166 is to “provide an independent review of proactive remediation measures and the review of past business conduct”.
FT Adviser understands that Interpath believes that once the FCA has brought S166 notices into effect, a letter similar to that sent by Interpath would need to be sent.
Even if no administration had taken place, they would have received a letter from the FCA inviting them to participate in a review of the advice they had received.
FT Adviser understands that the administrators worked with the FCA and FSCS in preparing the letter to former Tenet customers.
Customers of the companies that were authorized representatives of Tenet received the letter.
FT Adviser understands that Interpath also views potential future claimants for compensation as potential creditors of Tenet and therefore, as administrator, has a duty to interact with them.
Interpath declined to comment for this article.
