Portsmouth finance firm sold for £500k after director alleged to have 'taken' over £2m of client money

Nexus Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) and Nexus Investment Managers (IM) have been sold for £500,000. Both companies entered administration on February 13 after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) restricted them from carrying out business activities – including taking on new customers.

Business recovery firm Leonard Curtis confirmed today the sale to Vintage Wealth Management Limited was completed on March 9. Carl Faulds and Nicola Layland were appointed joint administrators by High Court on January 26.

NOW READ: Portsmouth finance firm enters administration after director alleged to have 'taken' over £2m of client money

The move followed a damning FCA report which said it had ‘very serious concerns’ regarding sole director, Kerry Nelson, and monetary withdrawals from customers ‘without their authorisation or without their knowledge.’ The public advisory notice said client fees ‘have then appeared to have been used to fund personal expenditure’.

Joint administrator Nicola Layland said: ‘I am pleased with the outcome, as it was a difficult process, taking into account the background and the role of the FCA. It was important to all parties that the interests of the clients were protected as well as achieving the maximum sum possible for creditors of the two companies.

‘I am grateful to the management team and staff and Moore Barlow Solicitors for their assistance in successfully concluding the sale.’ Administrators retained the Nexus managements teams during the sale.

Hilco Valuation Services marketed the sale and it received 60 initial enquires, with 38 potential bidders entering non-disclosure agreements to access financial data and other relevant information. Following further enquiries, four formal offers were made.

The sale required FCA approval and several regulatory hurdles had to be overcome. This included FCA satisfaction over whether the purchaser had the resources to manage the large volume of clients which have to be transferred.

Joint administrator Carl Faulds said: ‘The next stage in the administration will be to identify further monies that may be recoverable for the benefit of creditors and assisting the FCA with any further enquiries into the circumstances leading to the administration.’ Nexus IFA and Nexus IM provides financial and mortgage advice, portfolio management and financial planning.

The firm was moved to The Camber in 2021 following the withdrawal of Sir Ben Ainslie's America’s Cup sailing team. Nexus also sponsored last year’s Southsea Christmas lights switch on.

The FCA were contacted in December 2022 following an internal investigation. It said the case found ‘significant fees’ were moved ‘onto the firms’ director’.

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The FCA said the firms’ director ‘may have taken a total of £2,072,242.80 in unauthorised and/or inappropriate withdrawals from clients of the firms’. ‘There appears to be evidence that the firms, specifically the firms’ director, has on multiple occasions taken substantial sums in “fees” from clients to which they were not entitled,’ they concluded.

‘These sums have then appeared to have been used to fund personal expenditure.’ Kerry Nelson is listed as the sole director of Nexus IFA on Companies House.

The government website states James Wheatley, Anthony Van Gool, and Peter Geike-Cobb were all appointed as Nexus directors in November 16 – all resigning on December 7.