0:00:13 > 0:00:17leave you open to being ripped off. You should be very wary of anybody
0:00:18 > 0:00:22who approaches you regarding a free pension review because at the end of
0:00:23 > 0:00:29the day, they are there to make money.
0:00:30 > 0:00:36And the people whose retirement dreams are ruined. People have
0:00:37 > 0:00:41killed themselves. I am aware of that happening. Suicides, break-ups
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and yet they don't seem to care. We go undercover to investigate one man
0:00:47 > 0:00:59whose company targets pensions to help fund a foreign property empire.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04And we ask, should more be done to keep our pensions safe? It sounds
0:01:05 > 0:01:21good, but it ain't good. Don't do it. It's not worth it.
0:01:22 > 0:01:31Whatever your hobby, whether you want to relax or you prefer
0:01:32 > 0:01:34something more active, the perfect retirement is proving harder to
0:01:35 > 0:01:39achieve. Planning for retirement is one of the bigger financial
0:01:40 > 0:01:44challenges we face. We are living longer and we are staying healthier,
0:01:45 > 0:01:53which means it is harder to fund even the most modest of lifestyles
0:01:54 > 0:01:57for when we stop working. In April 2015, the government introduced a
0:01:58 > 0:02:00package of pension freedoms. Pensioners will have complete
0:02:01 > 0:02:06freedom to draw down as much or as little of their pension pot... To
0:02:07 > 0:02:09explain the new rules, the government also introduced a free
0:02:10 > 0:02:16telephone advice service called Pension Wise. Pension Wise, set up
0:02:17 > 0:02:22by the government offers free impartial guidance on the options
0:02:23 > 0:02:27you now have. What we aim to do is to help you
0:02:28 > 0:02:30understand your pension better and also to signpost you about where to
0:02:31 > 0:02:37go, what questions to ask and the things you need to be aware of. But
0:02:38 > 0:02:41some companies have been quick to work out if they also offer free
0:02:42 > 0:02:46advice, it could be the first step to getting their hands on people's
0:02:47 > 0:02:51valuable pension pots. You should be very wary of anybody
0:02:52 > 0:02:54who approaches you regarding a free pension review, because at the end
0:02:55 > 0:02:59of the day, they are there to make money, and you need to be really
0:03:00 > 0:03:05clear before you accept any offer from them.
0:03:06 > 0:03:13There are free -- fears the new freedoms could trigger pensions
0:03:14 > 0:03:19mis-selling on a grand scale. For the last six months, we have
0:03:20 > 0:03:25been investigating a call centre in Derby which offers free pension
0:03:26 > 0:03:41reviews. We sent in an undercover reporter. First stop, the classroom.
0:03:42 > 0:03:51The company is run by a company called Lifestyle Connections. Holly,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56one of the trainers tells the class they will be calling on the of
0:03:57 > 0:04:09sister company First Review Pension Services. Their job is designed
0:04:10 > 0:04:13people up for a free pension review. Another trainer says their clients
0:04:14 > 0:04:22are offered a comprehensive range of pension options. New recruits are
0:04:23 > 0:04:27told they are not allowed to give financial advice as they are not
0:04:28 > 0:04:32regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Staff get a salary plus
0:04:33 > 0:04:44commission for every client they sign up for a review. When training
0:04:45 > 0:04:49moves from the classroom to the call centre, our reporter picks up some
0:04:50 > 0:05:01tips from lifestyle's quality control officer Bobby.
0:05:02 > 0:05:12It is all about keeping people on the phone. Once the call centre gets
0:05:13 > 0:05:17them signed up, they are passed to First Review Pension Services, just
0:05:18 > 0:05:20across the road. They're self-employed consultants do the
0:05:21 > 0:05:22reviews face-to-face, but there is more to this company's structure
0:05:23 > 0:05:50than meets the eye. So, it is the Resort Group, the
0:05:51 > 0:05:54parent company that is really calling the shots. It does not sound
0:05:55 > 0:06:01like it has anything to do with pensions at all. In fact, it is a
0:06:02 > 0:06:09property developer with a string of resorts in Cape Verde, an emerging
0:06:10 > 0:06:13tourist destination of west Africa. Quality control officer Bobby who
0:06:14 > 0:06:31told our reporter to lie to clients explains.
0:06:32 > 0:06:38So, our reporter should not tell clients that the motive for the
0:06:39 > 0:06:43pensions review is to help fund the Resort Group's Cape Verde
0:06:44 > 0:06:49developments. Well, they may not want you to know it, but First
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Review Pension Services and Lifestyle Connections are both in
0:06:54 > 0:06:57fact owned by the Resort Group. What's more, the Resort Group
0:06:58 > 0:07:07describes them as their marketing and sales arm. Pensions expert Alan
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Higham has advised the government on pensions policy. We showed him our
0:07:14 > 0:07:17footage. What do you think? Well, there is clearly no doubt this is
0:07:18 > 0:07:22all about selling an investment in Cape Verde. It is not about a proper
0:07:23 > 0:07:25pension review, it is not about taking your individual circumstances
0:07:26 > 0:07:30into account and working out what is best for you, it is about finding
0:07:31 > 0:07:35the best line to sell you this investment in Cape Verde. So who is
0:07:36 > 0:07:44behind the Resort Group and those luxury hotels in Cape Verde?
0:07:45 > 0:07:57When it comes down to the rest of you guys, I love you! Rob Jarrett, a
0:07:58 > 0:08:02former financial adviser. Last year, his Resort Group made nearly ?11
0:08:03 > 0:08:09million profit. Rob Jarrett owns the call centre, the pension review
0:08:10 > 0:08:16service and the company that builds the swanky hotels. Here he is with
0:08:17 > 0:08:24celebrities Kerry Katona, Tinie Tempah and Ms Dynamite launching one
0:08:25 > 0:08:28of his new resorts. Everybody here I think has a close personal relation
0:08:29 > 0:08:29to the Resort Group or the development that we do in Cape
0:08:30 > 0:08:48Verde. Kerry works in the call centre and
0:08:49 > 0:09:41as a consultant. for his empire. Thank you. After
0:09:42 > 0:10:07four days of training at for his empire. Thank you. After
0:10:08 > 0:10:14Two years ago, Monica Dyer was called by
0:10:15 > 0:10:23Two years ago, Monica Dyer was end of the phone asking
0:10:24 > 0:10:23Two years ago, Monica Dyer was pension to another pension? He said
0:10:24 > 0:10:32this is better pension to another pension? He said
0:10:33 > 0:10:41better. She agreed to meet a consultant
0:10:42 > 0:10:49better. She agreed to meet a Resort Group. It was a woman who
0:10:50 > 0:11:13better. She agreed to meet a pension I was in to this new one.
0:11:14 > 0:11:35better. She agreed to meet a be risks attached to the pension?
0:11:36 > 0:11:39to help. The only thing I could think of was to do an application
0:11:40 > 0:11:45for a transfer of the Cape Verde pension but we kept continually
0:11:46 > 0:11:50hitting buffers in terms of trying to get the money repatriated from
0:11:51 > 0:11:54the Resort Group. It went on for months and months and months. Monica
0:11:55 > 0:12:00eventually got her money back but she lost more than cash. The pension
0:12:01 > 0:12:05she transferred out of was a final salary scheme. It has put me right
0:12:06 > 0:12:12off answering the phone because I do not want to be caught up in that
0:12:13 > 0:12:17ever again. As I am getting older, I don't want to get myself caught up
0:12:18 > 0:12:26in this kind of predicament again. Never ever. Final salary pensions
0:12:27 > 0:12:34guarantee retirement incomes. As Marion will now explain. A final
0:12:35 > 0:12:39salary pension gives you an income in retirement based on a proportion
0:12:40 > 0:12:43of the salary you were on in the job that provided that pension. Anybody
0:12:44 > 0:12:48promoting the idea that they should take one of these things, transfer
0:12:49 > 0:12:54it and invest it in an overseas property scheme, that has warning
0:12:55 > 0:13:00bells ringing all over for me. I would not do it. We wanted to see
0:13:01 > 0:13:06for ourselves what a consultation with First Review Pension Services
0:13:07 > 0:13:14looks like. Our man also has a final salary pension. He gives them a
0:13:15 > 0:13:21call. It is Holly, one of the women who
0:13:22 > 0:13:24trained our undercover reporter. Can you tell me a bit about what you do?
0:13:25 > 0:13:40What the service is? She wants our man to sign a letter
0:13:41 > 0:13:43of authority giving access to his pension details. She sends a career
0:13:44 > 0:14:04the following day. Two weeks later, it's time for our
0:14:05 > 0:14:20free pension review. We have secret cameras in the house. I am listening
0:14:21 > 0:14:33upstairs with pensions expert Alan Highham.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Parking sorted, let the review begin. Bruce is not a regulated
0:14:40 > 0:14:47financial adviser and does not claim to be. He shouldn't offer any
0:14:48 > 0:14:48investment advice. But he wasted little time telling our man what he
0:14:49 > 0:15:10thinks of his final salary pension. Here suggesting that he leave the
0:15:11 > 0:16:21inflation. He Here suggesting that he leave the
0:16:22 > 0:16:32pension and transferred a lump sum into a self investment personal
0:16:33 > 0:16:40pension, or SIPP. It enables the individual to choose where the
0:16:41 > 0:16:44savings are invested. He has ?48,000 in his final salary pot. Bruce's
0:16:45 > 0:16:48plan would involve half going into regulated UK investments and the
0:16:49 > 0:17:08rest into a portfolio, including overseas property.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Bruce claims the overseas investments will grow by 10% a year.
0:17:13 > 0:17:24But how risky are they? It is riskier than he is saying.
0:17:25 > 0:17:44Bruce says the UK based investments will grow by the same amount.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51You can't get 10% returns in a cautious fund. If you want 10%
0:17:52 > 0:17:59return, you have to take a lot of risk. Now it is time for Bruce to
0:18:00 > 0:18:02assess our man's financial circumstances and his attitude to
0:18:03 > 0:18:04risk. It involves filling in a lengthy, detailed form. But Bruce
0:18:05 > 0:18:47has a suggestion to speed things up. That is very leading. He should be
0:18:48 > 0:18:49assessing his needs, not picking the one that will get through the advice
0:18:50 > 0:18:56process. Bruce says he will send the form to
0:18:57 > 0:19:05be assessed by an independent financial adviser. Take it away,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Margaret. An independent financial adviser, or IFA, is a personal
0:19:11 > 0:19:14company authorised to give investment advice that is unbiased,
0:19:15 > 0:19:22comprehensive and in the customer's best interests.
0:19:23 > 0:19:32The best practice is that the man who should be advising him should be
0:19:33 > 0:19:37doing this, not an intermediary. I would be horrified if I was the
0:19:38 > 0:19:42adviser if this is how it had been completed, I would refuse to advise.
0:19:43 > 0:19:43After two hours, Bruce confirms his election to Rob Jarrett's Resort
0:19:44 > 0:20:10Group. Job done. Bruce, the man who is paid
0:20:11 > 0:20:20on commission to flog Resort Group investments, heads off.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27Stuart Dickson is a police officer from Northumberland. He fears he has
0:20:28 > 0:20:29lost his final salary pension after inviting an unregulated consultant
0:20:30 > 0:20:42into his home for a pension review. You were sitting around the table?
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Exactly the same place. What did you say to him? I was very keen to be
0:20:47 > 0:20:52able to access the pension at 55. That is 1.I was happy with. That is
0:20:53 > 0:20:57what was getting advertised. The consultant was Graham Meikle, from a
0:20:58 > 0:21:02different company, Viva Costa International, in Sunderland. He was
0:21:03 > 0:21:06very relaxed. His role was to get all of my financial details and I
0:21:07 > 0:21:11filled in what was called a rigorous assessment, asking what your risk
0:21:12 > 0:21:19value was to money. I remember clearly saying low, on that sort of
0:21:20 > 0:21:23money, and also about what my financial circumstances were. He
0:21:24 > 0:21:27said we would have to find an IFA, we have a bank of these we use. We
0:21:28 > 0:21:33will find one appropriate for you that will look at your figures and
0:21:34 > 0:21:40make a decision for you. Stuarts did not have any direct contact with an
0:21:41 > 0:21:44independent financial adviser. I was told the IFA company had found me a
0:21:45 > 0:21:51scheme that was appropriate to me and then, you know, this is what it
0:21:52 > 0:21:57would be, go ahead with that. Stuart signed papers to transfer his
0:21:58 > 0:22:03?112,000 pot and a form saying he was a sophisticated investor. Soon
0:22:04 > 0:22:08afterwards, he wished he hadn't. I got all the paperwork out and went
0:22:09 > 0:22:12through it with a fine tooth comb. I really did, first of all, think
0:22:13 > 0:22:19well, I am in a high-risk scheme, which I shouldn't have been. Stuart
0:22:20 > 0:22:22contacted the pensions regulator. An investigation into the scheme
0:22:23 > 0:22:27discovered it had bought four apartments in a Resort Group
0:22:28 > 0:22:31development in Cape Verde. It ruled neither these or any of the other
0:22:32 > 0:22:38overseas investments were suitable for the scheme. So far, Stuart has
0:22:39 > 0:22:43not been able to get his money back. We are no further forward in knowing
0:22:44 > 0:22:47what the value of our pension is, if it is worth anything. I've asked to
0:22:48 > 0:22:53try to transfer it to a legitimate scheme, with any assets left, which
0:22:54 > 0:23:06has fallen on deaf ears. Viva Costa International told us...
0:23:07 > 0:23:12It is five weeks since our man had a visit from Bruce Nicholas, the
0:23:13 > 0:23:18consultant from First Review Pension Services. He is back.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23His plan has changed. He now wants half our man's pension to go to The
0:23:24 > 0:23:43Resort Group's property fund. But he has a problem. The
0:23:44 > 0:23:48independent financial adviser's report says our man's final salary
0:23:49 > 0:23:53pension should stay put. If he transfers into other investments,
0:23:54 > 0:23:54they are unlikely to grow enough to give the same guaranteed income.
0:23:55 > 0:24:15What does Bruce think? Our man wants time to think it over.
0:24:16 > 0:24:42But Bruce is going nowhere. When he thinks he might leave
0:24:43 > 0:25:12empty-handed, he changes tack. Our man has told Bruce his wife
0:25:13 > 0:25:13works in the city. Perhaps there is another way he can flog Resort Group
0:25:14 > 0:26:00investments? He revealed himself as a salesman?
0:26:01 > 0:26:03He did. He said he was getting 7% commission on selling cash
0:26:04 > 0:26:07investments in The Resort Group. Perhaps he is also getting a 7%
0:26:08 > 0:26:11commission for introducing this business? If he is really doing the
0:26:12 > 0:26:17thick end of ?900,000 a week, that is a lot of money to be had. Therein
0:26:18 > 0:26:22lies the motivation. That is yet another reason not to do it. The
0:26:23 > 0:26:35sales pitch even continues as he heads for the door.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39On the 25th of June, Panorama asked The Resort Group for a statement. It
0:26:40 > 0:27:02replied... It also said it decided in February
0:27:03 > 0:27:09that First Review and Lifestyle Connections would stop taking on new
0:27:10 > 0:27:10business after the 30th of June. First Review Pension Services and
0:27:11 > 0:27:23Lifestyle Connections said... We wanted to talk to the Department
0:27:24 > 0:27:28for Work and Pensions, the Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and
0:27:29 > 0:27:31the pensions regulator about the results of our investigation. None
0:27:32 > 0:27:39of them were available for interview. The Department for Work
0:27:40 > 0:27:42and Pensions have since said they are committed to protecting all
0:27:43 > 0:27:49pension savers, including those seeking to access their pension
0:27:50 > 0:27:53freedoms. But, in reality, we are largely on our own. We think the
0:27:54 > 0:27:58biggest protection is just raising customer awareness and to get people
0:27:59 > 0:28:06to do due diligence into the company they are doing business with. It
0:28:07 > 0:28:14sounds good, but it ain't good. Keep your pension. Don't do it. It's not
0:28:15 > 0:28:18worth it. Nearly 250,000 people have taken advantage of the new freedom
0:28:19 > 0:28:22to take control of their pensions, but when it comes to protecting
0:28:23 > 0:28:24yourself from being ripped off, the warning signs are all there. You've
0:28:25 > 0:28:36just got to know how to spot them. Details of organisations offering
0:28:37 > 0:28:50information and support are available at:
0:28:51 > 0:28:52Reggie Yates is joining the Mexican army.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57It can't be that safe if everybody is...this armed.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02You could probably get shot at. Get shot at, OK.