Former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers striker Alan Shearer has been awarded £100,000 ($134,000, €120,000) in a court case with his former financial adviser.
In 2017, Shearer agreed a settlement with Kevin Neal and self-invested personal pension (Sipp) provider Suffolk Life claiming he “lost millions” after getting “negligent” pension advice.
The ex-footballer complained about investment advice he was given over a £4m pension.
Suffolk Life, which was acquired by Curtis Banks in 2016, and Neal disputed his allegations, according to UK broadcaster the BBC.
Court order
Sitting at the High Court in London, judge Mark Pelling ordered Neal to pay Shearer £100,000 and £11,000 in costs.
Shearer’s representative, barrister Gerard McMeel, said Neal should have paid the money in June after the settlement was reached two years ago.
A Suffolk Life spokeswoman told the BBC the case had been settled on “mutually satisfactory terms and with no admission of liability”.
The BBC reported neither Shearer nor Neal were at the hearing, which lasted 15 minutes.
Banning
In May 2018, Neal was banned from holding a directorship for sneaking £76,000 out of his insolvent advice firm.
Neal and his wife Cheryl ran the now-defunct Kevin Neal Associates Wealth Management (KNAWM).
The company had been incorporated to take over the wealth management business of a previous firm, Kevin Neal Associates Limited, of which Shearer was a client and which went into compulsory liquidation on 1 July 2013.
By May 2014, at least six decisions by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), totalling £573,274, had gone against Kevin Neal Associates Limited and KNAWM.
The firm’s previous insurer refused to settle the claims and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had altered KNAWM’s permissions to ensure that it did not transfer away assets without its permission.
Despite this, between May and June 2014, KNAWM transferred £55,000 and two cars worth £22,120 to associated parties.
Both Neal and his wife were banned from being directors, the husband for six years and Cheryl Neal for four years.
