AIOFP’s Johnston retracts Challenger claims
The executive director of the Association of Independently Owned Financial Planners (AIOFP), Peter Johnston, has retracted a number of statements relating to the Challenger Financial Services Group with respect to a class action covering the Challenger Howard Property Trust — Penrith Homemaker Centre.
In a letter sent to Challenger last week, Johnston acknowledged that his reported statements suggesting Challenger did not fulfil the requirements of the Product Disclosure Statement for Penrith Trust, had acted negligently in relation to the trust and that the trust suffered from bad management of an underlying property, over-gearing and negligent valuations were false.
Challenger chief executive Mike Tilley said his company had received the letter containing Johnston’s retraction and correction this week.
He said Challenger had gone to the AIOFP pointing out the errors and disappointment at the currency that the claims had generated, which had the potential to unjustly damage Challenger’s reputation.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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