Hartley Pensions Ssas clients could start to be transferred out after a sale of the business could not be agreed.
According to the latest administrators report, published last week (August 22), UHY Hacker Young is in talks with several interested parties about a potential sale of Hartley’s Ssas book.
But it said it was unable to complete any sale “due to the conditions attached to the offers”.
UHY Hacker Young said although discussions continued, it was “more than likely” it will have to make an application to court to ascertain the fairest way to transfer clients out.
Morgan Lloyd, a pensions management and administration business, has already been appointed to receive Hartley Sipp transfers in June after a period of due diligence by UHY Hacker Young and interaction with the FCA.
Elsewhere in the report, the administrators set out what was owed by clients.
It said £5,883,943 was outstanding in relation to client fees, with £927,635 having been realised during the administration.
According to the report, most of this relates to charges against clients who had insufficient assets within their Sipp and were therefore “irrecoverable”.
UHY Hacker Young said outstanding debts were being pursued and pointed out most clients had a clause in their contract which allowed Hartley to disinvest assets to fund any outstanding fees. Where possible, assets are being disinvested to enable the debt to be repaid.
It came after a period of frustration for clients as thousands had been trapped for more than two years in Hartley's Sipps, after Hartley Pensions went into administration.
There is no set timeline as to when the transfers will begin but it was expected that documents will be posted to clients who will move to Morgan Lloyd in late July 2024.
Hartley Pensions clients have been waiting a long time for the transfer process to gather speed; there have been bitter disputes and legal issues.
The firm went into administration at the request of the Financial Conduct Authority in July 2022.
UHY Hacker Young have set out how transfers would happen in tranches, with the simplest going first.
According to the report, UHY Hacker Young’s fees are expected to come to £12,037,353, with expenses of £4,220,969 incurred to date.
In March 2023, UHY Hacker Young received approval to increase its fees to £5,091,250. But it is expected that a further £7,816,383 will be needed to finalise the administration.
It said: “Having regard for the costs that are likely to be incurred in bringing this administration to a close, we consider that the revised fee estimate is likely to be exceeded.
“However it should be noted that as the FSCS has agreed to fund certain costs relating to FSCS eligible claimants, further fee approval from creditors shall not be required. “
amy.austin@ft.com
