H2O Asset Management agrees to pay investors €250m after FCA probe

Locked in funds since 2020

H2O Asset Management has agreed to pay out €250m to investors who have been unable to access their funds since 2020.

The decision follows an investigation from the Financial Conduct Authority, which found that between April 2015 and November 2019, the firm failed to carry out "proper due diligence" on investments. These included investments related to the Tennor Group of companies, which is owned by controversial financier Lars Windhorst, and other companies he introduced. These investments, the FCA noted, were "high risk and hard to sell". More specifically, they comprised private placement debt instruments and equity shares in entities which H2O recognised as early stage or turnaround businesses, ...