Wimpie Barnard – a financial adviser on whose advice pensioner Elizabeth Fourie invested R530 000 into two property syndication schemes promoted and marketed by Sharemax – has been ordered to repay Fourie the money she invested, says a report in Business Report. Barnard – an authorised representative under licence of FSP Network – was ordered by the Ombud for Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (Fais) Noluntu Bam to repay Fourie the money she invested in Sharemax Zambezi Retail Park and Theresapark Retirement Village.

Fourie requested the Ombud to order the repayment of the R530 000 she invested because of Barnard’s failure to render financial services in line with the Fais Act and the general code of conduct. Bam said a High Court judgment had determined that her office had jurisdiction to make determinations of such complaints and the complaint had not prescribed because it fell within the three-year period after Fourie became aware there was a problem.

Bam said Barnard failed to comply with the Fais Act in that he failed to undertake a risk analysis to determine whether the product being considered would be suitable for the circumstances of the client. She said when Barnard recommended the investment in Sharemax he could not have been acting in Fourie’s interest because he had not even read the prospectus.

Full report in Business Report