Barclays Bank promises to speed up complaints over fund error

News - Funds

Written by Ray Clancy

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 09:20

Barclays Bank has agreed to resolve investor’s complaints over its sale of the Aviva global balanced income fund within a matter of weeks.

This comes after it issued an apology after scores of investors marched on the UK parliament to highlight their claims for losses of hundreds of thousands of pounds after the bank admitted that it made an error in categorising the fund as balanced rather than adventurous between July and November 2007.

It meant that cautious investors approaching or in retirement were advised to transfer their long term savings into the single specialist fund whose value fell by almost 50% in the 12 months to March 2009.

The Bank says that all the complaints should be resolved within a few weeks. ‘We are sorry for the stress experienced by some of our customers who invested in the Aviva funds. It is clearly evident that in some instances relating to these funds, we have failed to meet the high standards that our customers expect from us and for this we are sorry,’ a statement from Barclays said.

‘We are fully aware of the concerns raised by some of our customers who have invested in the Aviva global income funds and we are sorry for the stress this has caused. We also regret that this has been exacerbated by the length of time taken to resolve some of their complaints,’ a spokesman added.

‘We expect the majority of complaints at FOS to be resolved within the next few weeks. We want to reassure them that we will offer redress where appropriate, according to the guidance provided by the Financial Ombudsman Service,’ the spokesman added.

Over 80 former Barclays clients complained after Barclays salespeople advised them to invest in the Aviva global balanced income fund.

One, Lona Fudge, said she lost half of her £108,000 investment in the fund. ‘I invested 2006 and by February 2009 my investment was worth just £54,000, even though I told Barclays I did not want to risk my capital. Barclays has made me a poor pensioner,’ she said.

She added that Barclays offered her £36,100 compensation but she has rejected the offer and is now waiting on the outcome of her complaint to the FSO.

Many investors have been waiting for over a year for their complaints to go through the FOS and Barclays has, in some cases, refused to accept decisions from adjudicators, which lengthens the process further.