Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, is facing significant criticism over a lucrative second job where he is paid £400,000 a year to promote the idea of buying physical gold for pension pots. The role, with the company Direct Bullion, requires just four hours of work per month.
High-Paid Role and Missing Warnings
Farage, who is also the MP for Clacton, earns more than four times his parliamentary salary from this position. He has appeared in promotional videos for Direct Bullion on platforms like Facebook and YouTube. In these reels, he advocates for using self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) to hold "tax-efficient gold" as a way to protect and grow wealth.
However, scrutiny has revealed that not all of these videos contain adequate disclaimers. Experts point out that many clips fail to warn viewers that the value of gold can fall as well as rise, that it does not provide a regular income like dividends, and that there are storage costs involved. In one instance, a disclaimer was presented in such a tiny font and so briefly that it was deemed easy to miss.
Experts Label Strategy as 'Niche' and Risky
Pensions specialists have expressed serious concerns about promoting physical gold as a mainstream pension investment. Tom McPhail, a governor of the Pensions Policy Institute, described the strategy as "pretty niche stuff" suitable only for sophisticated investors.
"For 90% or more of the population, join your workplace pension, go into the default fund," McPhail advised. He warned that Farage's strong personal brand could lead people to follow his advice without proper understanding of the risks. "If I were to put all my money in gold, that would be a really high-risk thing to do," he added.
While other analysts, like Kate Marshall of Hargreaves Lansdown, acknowledged gold can play a role in a diversified portfolio, they emphasised simplicity and low cost, often favouring exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) over physical bars.
Complaints and Political Response
The controversy has prompted formal complaints. Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy has raised the promotional videos with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), asking it to investigate whether they meet regulatory standards.
When questioned about the appropriateness of an MP promoting such investments without clear disclaimers, a spokesperson for Reform UK dismissed the inquiry, saying the party "took pity on the Guardian for not having better things to do with their time than measure font sizes."
Farage defended his position, stating: "Since I began my relationship with Direct Bullion, people that took my advice will have seen returns of over 100% on their money." Direct Bullion itself did not respond to requests for comment.
This role is one of several high-earning positions Farage holds alongside his MP duties, including a presenting role at GB News, a column for the Daily Telegraph, and commentary work for Sky News Australia.
