Knight denies complaints against it
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.KNIGHT Williams, an investment firm that specialises in advice for the elderly, has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement about the number of complaints its customers have made about it.
There have been suggestions that the firm was the subject of 140 complaints to the regulator Fimbra last year. They arose from information in the annual report of Fimbra's complaints commissioner, Keith Woodley.
Mr Woodley said: 'One firm was the subject of 140 complaints and another firm 101 complaints. These complaints primarily related to churning and negligent management.
'One of these firms had its Fimbra membership terminated during 1992 and is now in default under the terms of the Investors Compensation Scheme.'
Mr Woodley did not name Knight Williams, however. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Knight Williams denies that it was the firm subject to the 140 complaints.
John Williams, managing director, said the firm believed there were 79 complaints against it last year. He said Mr Woodley had confirmed verbally that the firm was not the one mentioned by him.
The firm's statement says: 'The number of client complaints received and found to be justified even in part is less than 15 per cent of the level suggested in press comment . . . and represents less than 0.08 per cent of Knight Williams' 20,000 clients.'
Of the 79 complaints identified by Knight Williams, 70 have been resolved, the statement says. 'In 54, Knight Williams has been exonerated.'
The firm says that in only 16 cases has it been found at fault at all, and of these, five were a split decision between the complainant and Knight Williams. This represented 0.08 per cent of the firm's client base.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments