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Frank Breuer is out. The Financial Conduct Authority banned him from UK financial services and slapped him with a £755,000 fine for running a pension advice operation without the insurance to back it up — and then lying about it.
Breuer was the sole director of Bluesky Wealth Management Limited. Starting in April 2019, he pushed through at least 16 defined benefit pension transfers for clients while knowing full well that Bluesky didn’t carry the professional indemnity insurance those transactions legally required. DB pension transfers are among the most consequential financial moves a retail client can make — pulling someone out of a guaranteed income for life is a one-way door. Getting it wrong is catastrophic. And Breuer did it without a safety net in place, for 16 people, over months.
Not just uninsured. Actively deceptive.
When the FCA came knocking about Bluesky’s insurance status, Breuer didn’t come clean. He misled the regulator. Repeatedly. That’s not a paperwork error — that’s a deliberate choice to keep regulators in the dark while continuing to operate. By October 2019, the FCA had seen enough and imposed formal restrictions on Breuer, designed to protect Bluesky’s clients and ring-fence the firm’s assets. He ignored those too.
Asset Stripping and the Insolvency Play
With restrictions in place, Breuer started moving money. Large dividends paid to himself, personal loans drawn from the firm, funds routed through related accounts — basically a systematic drain of whatever Bluesky had left. By September 2020, the FCA had raised concerns about whether his DB pension advice was even suitable for the clients who received it. Breuer knew the walls were closing in.
Complaints started piling up. From June 2022, the Financial Ombudsman Service began upholding multiple claims against Bluesky’s pension advice. That’s not a one-off grievance — that’s a pattern the Ombudsman found credible enough to rule on, again and again. And still, Breuer didn’t stop.
In April 2023, he placed Bluesky into insolvency.
The move left customer liabilities of at least £214,772.88 sitting with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FSCS — funded by levies on the wider financial services industry — now has to cover the gap Breuer created. Claims remain open, so affected clients still have a route to seek redress.
FCA’s Enforcement: Disgorgement and Conduct Violations
The FCA’s penalty isn’t just a fine. It includes disgorgement of the financial benefits Breuer got through the misconduct — meaning the regulator wants back what he shouldn’t have taken in the first place. The £755,000 total reflects both the fine and that clawback element.
On the conduct side, Breuer broke FCA Statement of Principle 1 and Individual Conduct Rule 1. Both come down to the same thing: integrity. You don’t mislead regulators. You don’t strip a firm’s assets when you’re under restrictions. You don’t advise on complex pension transfers without the insurance that’s supposed to protect clients if things go wrong. Breuer did all three.
It’s worth being clear about what DB pension transfers actually involve. These aren’t small decisions. A defined benefit scheme promises a fixed income in retirement, often inflation-linked, often with survivor benefits. Transferring out means giving that up for a cash equivalent value, which the client then has to invest and manage. The advice to do so carries enormous responsibility. The FCA has required advisers in this space to hold specific insurance precisely because the downside for clients — and the liability for advisers — can be huge.
Breuer didn’t have that insurance. He probably knew what that meant for his clients if the advice turned out to be wrong. He went ahead anyway.
The Financial Ombudsman’s involvement from mid-2022 makes clear this wasn’t a theoretical risk — real clients filed real complaints, and those complaints were upheld. The FSCS is now cleaning up the mess. Affected customers are encouraged to reach out to the scheme directly; it’s still accepting claims.
The FCA’s enforcement action removes Breuer from the industry permanently. He can’t work in UK financial services. The disgorgement element means he doesn’t get to keep the money he made doing it.
Customer liabilities of at least £214,772.88 now sit with the FSCS.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Frank Breuer do to get banned by the FCA?
Breuer advised on at least 16 defined benefit pension transfers without holding the required professional insurance, repeatedly misled the FCA about Bluesky’s insurance status, ignored FCA-imposed restrictions, and stripped company assets through dividends and personal loans before placing the firm into insolvency in April 2023.
How much is the FCA fine and what does it cover?
The FCA fined Breuer £755,000, which includes disgorgement of financial benefits he obtained through the misconduct, on top of the penalty for breaching FCA Statement of Principle 1 and Individual Conduct Rule 1.
Can clients affected by Bluesky’s pension advice still claim compensation?
Yes — the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is still open to claims from affected clients, and has already taken on customer liabilities of at least £214,772.88 following Bluesky’s insolvency.
