Tag: Pension Fraud

Jailed – adviser who gambled his investors´ money away

49-year-old Freddy David of Elstree, Borehamwood, of North London, faces six years in jail for conning millions of pounds out of people in his community through an investment scam.

David, once a well-respected member of his community and former financial adviser, obtained money by deception to fund his gambling habit. Figures of his scam are said to be a staggering £15.6m ($20.5m, €17.5m). Many of his victims are elderly and unable to recover the money they have lost. Some investments were as much as £750,000.

David told his 55 clients their funds were being held in a high-interest bank account in his company HBFS Financial Services. The reality of it was, that he used the funds to feed his gambling addiction, including £240,000 in one day!

Fortunately, the FCA became suspicious and were able to collaborate with the City of London Police. This resulted in David admitting to his crime and receiving a six-year jail sentence as well as a ten-year ban from holding a directorship.

Police staff investigator Katie Watkins said: “David was a well-respected member of his community who exploited this in his position as a managing director of a recommended financial advisory firm to gain trust from unsuspecting investors.

“This fraud has caused significant emotional distress and financial harm to the victims involved, many of whom invested their life savings in HBFS. Some victims are retired and are not in a position to recover the money lost.”

This goes to show that investment scammers lurk everywhere and are very good at disguising themselves. Even respected, qualified and registered advisers can turn crooked when they need a bit of extra cash (or even a lot of extra cash).

When choosing to make any financial transfer, ensure that the transaction is your own decision and that the adviser is working in your best interests. Make sure you ask all the relevant questions.

Make sure you receive all the investment information in writing – DO NOT just trust the words of the adviser.

Once you have all the relevant paperwork – DO make sure that you have read over the proposal several times and that you understand it fully.

If in doubt, just walk away. If the offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!

August 9, 2018
Generali, an utter disgrace, merging with Utmost Wealth

Utmost Wealth and Generali PanEurope are set to merge with the help of Life Company Consolidation Group (LCCG). The plan is to re-brand as Utmost PanEurope. I wonder if this merger will do its utmost to ensure they manage and mitigate their future victims´ – sorry clients´ – risks, and protect their investments – as they certainly didn´t do so for their victims who suffered at the hands of CWM.

GPE chief executive Paul Gillett added: “We are proud of our performance over the last 20 years and have grown into one of the largest international companies in Ireland, with assets under management of over €10bn.

What a disgrace that Gillett can announce that he is “proud” of their performance over the last 20 years – proud of the misery and stress caused to the victims of the CWM pension scam? Proud of the fact that Generali have refused to take ANY responsibility for their victims´ losses.

Gillett goes on to say:

“The sale of the business to LCCG marks a very important step in our future development. Together, we represent one of the leading European providers of cross border wealth and corporate risk solutions with the potential to grow further across both current and new markets.”

With the responsibility of Generali being passed over to LCCG, here at Pension Life, we wonder if LCCG will be taking responsibility for Generali´s past victims as well. Will LCCG apply their corporate risk solutions to those who have already been put at risk? Generali on their own certainly didn´t apply a high standard of risk solutions when they placed CWM victims´ funds into high-risk, toxic, professional-investor-only structured notes.

Lets hope Utmost Wealth will do their utmost to sort out this utter disgrace caused by Generali´s negligence.

August 6, 2018
Scaremongering expats – paving the way for more scams

Independent News has written an article entitled – No-deal Brexit will make it ‘illegal’ to pay pensions to retired British expats living in EU, MPs told. In my opinion its just a move to scaremonger expats – paving the way for more scammers.

There are expats all over the world claiming their pensions. Why should Brexit make a difference to those in the EU?

The problem with scaremongering is like this: it paves the way for the pension vampires to strike with ease. Innocent expats, who hold private or occupational UK pensions, will read this kind of alarming report and could be sent into a flurry of panic – reaching for the nearest offshore deal. Or rather, offshore scam.

This type of report creates hordes of expats who don’t really understand what Brexit means (does anyone?) to their future. It creates an easy target for unqualified advisers working for the unregulated firms to strike while the iron is hot. A quick transfer, made in haste, the small print left unread – and the victim can spend the rest of their life regretting a bad decision.

Much in the same way as the scammers crowded outside the gates of British Steel factories – preying on the workers who really did not understand what was happening to their pension fund or what was the best decision to make, this report gives the scammers a new angle on which to work.

It would, however, seem that Huw Evans doesn’t know ‘who’ will be affected by this. His statement lacks any solid facts as to what countries in the EU could enforce this. Huw states there are 38 million people that could be affected. However, he fails to explain exactly why or how this would happen.

If you are an expat, with a UK pension, please do not rush into transferring your pension into an offshore arrangement. If you are interested in transferring your pension, be sure to consult a regulated advisory firm and take advice from a fully qualified and registered adviser.

Make sure you ask all the right questions, know all the details about where your pension will be going and above all, if in doubt, do not make the transfer. Pension scammers lurk all over the world – do not be their next victim.

What is a Pension Scam?

August 6, 2018
TV licence enforcement versus unlicensed advisers

Pension Life campaigns for awareness of corrupt financial advisers and advisory firms operating without the correct licences. Outing theses advisers and firms, in the hope that the authorities will do something about the state of it all, is one way of bringing these scammers to justice and warning the public. A recent article in the Irish News about an unpaid TV licence caught my eye. I feel I must highlight the injustice of the fact that a disabled woman was prosecuted for not having a TV licence while dozens of serial pension scammers get away with scamming their victims out of their hard-earned pension funds daily without ever getting punished.

Grandmother Anne Smith (left) from Poleglass with her friend and neighbour Marie Flynn. Picture by Mal McCann

IN reports –

Ill grandmother sent to jail for not paying TV licence fines

As we reside in Spain, we are fortunate enough not to have to pay for this licence, but readers who live in the UK and Ireland (and I believe Germany) will be well aware of the fees one MUST pay if they have a television in their home. For those that don’t live in a jurisdiction that requires a TV licence, here´s what Wikipedia states about an Irish TV licence:

In Ireland, a television licence is required for any address at which there is a television set. Since 2016, the annual licence fee is €160. Revenue is collected by An Post, the Irish postal service. The bulk of the fee is used to fund Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the state broadcaster.

Television licensing in the Republic of Ireland – Wikipedia

Irish police found time to visit Anne Smith (59 – who suffers from the debilitating lung condition COPD, as well as osteoporosis and is waiting for a double hip replacement, several times to issue a warrant for her arrest and later to take her into custody. Anne’s TV licence had been left unpaid for quite some time due to her poor health.

Non payment of a TV licence (when a television set is used within a house) is a criminal offence, and non-payment results in a police warrant being issued. Furthermore, men with vans are employed to visit all households on their database that do not pay their TV licence and basically harass them into proving they do not have a TV. It is just assumed that anyone without a TV licence is guilty, and so a campaign of harassment begins by letters and visits to intimidate people into buying a licence.

The Journal.ie reported earlier this year that there had been a rise in the purchase of TV licences in Ireland by * 8,000:

‘In a bid to clamp down on those who do not have a licence, the minister rolled out a raft of measures, including a communications campaign, as well issuing a new tender for a new TV licence agent tasked with carrying out TV licence inspections.

A spokesperson for the department said their research shows that the public campaign gave a definite push in the number of TV licences purchased. One tagline used in the ads where it highlights that buying a TV licence “is the law” resulted in a definite spike in take-up rates, they added.’

Can you imagine if this much effort was put into ensuring that financial advisers were fully licensed and qualified? And if the police chased after all the pension scammers? In my opinion, it is far more important to ensure that the financial services industry is operating in a fully legal and licensed manner. However, it is not so and the priority is obviously TV licence defaulters rather than pension scammers.

Serial pension scammers manage to create scam after scam after scam, posing as licensed advisers – convincing victims that they work for regulated firms – these scammers con millions out of innocent, hard-working victims every year!

And the problem is that the authorities, the FCA, HMRC and even the police just sit idly by and let the unlicensed advisers scam time and time AND TIME AGAIN!

August 6, 2018
Seagate Wealth Management Spain – qualified and regulated?

If you have been following Pension Life´s blogs, you will know that we have been conducting a series of investigations into qualified and registered financial advisers in various firms. Today, I am investigating Seagate Wealth Management Spain – qualified and registered?

IFAs and their clients are invited to add to, correct and improve this blog. Here’s a link to the three registers if you want to double check:

http://www.cii.co.uk/web/app/membersearch/MemberSearch.aspx

https://www.cisi.org/cisiweb2/cisi-website/join-us/cisi-member-directory

https://www.libf.ac.uk/members-and-alumni/sps-and-cpd-register – Claim to a DipFA

Please note that this data is correct as at 17/07/2018

What Seagate Wealth Management Spain say on their website:

‘Seagate Wealth Management provides Independent Financial Advice working with a number of regulated companies offering a comprehensive range of services. However, we are very different to your typical Financial Adviser. The Seagate team has a wealth of experience in providing advice on all aspects of investments, savings and pensions options. We believe that providing various solutions for our clients is the key.’

Seagate Wealth Management Spain – qualified and registered? Meet the team:

Mark Harrison – Managing Partner – ‘..with over 20 years of experience in Financial Services’. However, no Mark Harrison appears on any register for Spain or Seagate Wealth Management. He states in his profile:

‘He is passionate about helping ex-pats reach their financial goals and believes the only way to achieve this is through regulated and transparent financial advice.’

However, it appears that Mark Harrison has no financial qualifications and is therefore unqualified to give advice to anyone about their financial goals.

Chris Shaw – Partner – ‘…career in financial services stretches back over the last 15 years’. However, there is no mention of any financial qualifications and he doesn’t appear on any of the three registers. He states in his profile:

‘Chris takes his UK ethics and expertise and advises ex-pats all around the Costa Blanca on making important financial decisions.’

Ethics? Being unqualified to advise on financial matters but openly advertising and working in the industry doesn’t seem very ethical to me.

Steve Higgins – Partner – ‘…has worked in the financial sector for all of his working life and that is a long time!’ No mention of any financial qualifications, he does not appear on any register. His profile states:

‘Steve is very passionate and sincere about ensuring ex-pats obtain their desired solutions to their investment and income criteria.’

Not sure how being an unqualified financial adviser can be sincere and during his long working life, you would have thought he would have studied for some exams.

Karen Palmer – Client Account Manager – ´…is fully qualified, holding the Financial Planning Certificate, CeMap Mortgage qualifications and the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate in Taxation and Trusts´. However, she does not appear on any register.

Robert Pearl – Relationship Manager – No claims to any financial qualifications and does not appear on any registers.

Arguably, if Mr Pearl is not giving financial advice, he doesn´t necessarily need qualifications. However, we are told he does give financial advice. Therefore, he is giving advice without being qualified to do so.

Seagate Wealth Management Spain – qualified and registered? 0/5 – 0%

Seagate Wealth Management Spain state on their website:

We deliver UK best practice in Spain

We always put our clients´ needs and priorities first

We only offer regulated financial advice using compliant products

We are completely transparent on our services, charges and terms

We have extensive experience in providing advice on investments and pension transfers

However, Seagate Wealth Management Spain do not have a single member of staff registered with any financial qualification.

On their website, Seagate Wealth Management Spain state:

We work in conjunction with fully regulated and authorised companies.

They ought to state who these allegedly regulated companies are – and explain how Seagate are regulated.

August 6, 2018
10 essential questions for offshore advisers
Pension Life is working towards making offshore financial advisers more transparent. We have created a list of 10 essential questions for offshore advisers and their preferred answers. For too long precious pension funds been left in the hands of unqualified, unregistered advisers and unregulated financial advisory firms.

Offshore advisers need to follow a strict set of rules just as UK-based ones do. Being offshore doesn’t mean you can invent your own set of rules for financial advice. However, it seems more and more people are being poorly and illegally advised in the transfer of their pension funds.

Offshore advisers often use unnecessary insurance bonds to skim extra commissions without disclosing these commissions prior to the pension transfer. It is clear more information needs to be available to the clients of these ill-advised pension transfers. With greater transparency, pension holders would be able to make better informed decisions about advisers to whom they entrust their transfers. Also, they will have better knowledge of how to spot a pension scammer.

With so many advisory firms out there, it is hard to know when your inner beacon should be flashing a bright red warning light telling you to just walk away. Pension Life has put together this list of 10 essential questions to ask your offshore adviser.

If their answer points to the red warning light walk away – FAST!
1. What are your qualifications – are you qualified to give advice on pension transfers? and what CPD have you done recently? Advisers giving advice on pensions must be qualified to a certain level. Click on the link above to read what these requirements are. Simply having a qualification isn´t enough. Advisers must be qualified to the correct level and they must have made an effort to complete the relevant continued professional development (CPD). In addition they must pay their membership fees to the institute with which they qualified.
2. Is the company you work for regulated for insurance and investments? If the answer to this question is NO – walk away – DO NOT take any financial advice from them. All companies who give financial advice on pension MUST be licenced to do this by being regulated for both. An insurance licence is not sufficient.
3. Compliance. Is there a robust compliance department staffed by qualified personnel? If the answer is no walk away.
4. Do you use insurance bonds? If the answer to this is YES – walk away. If your pension goes into a SIPPS or a QROPS, it does not need two wrappers and therefore an insurance bond is just another way of the adviser making more money out of your fund though commissions – hence draining the value of your pension fund.
5. Do you use structured notes, UCIS funds or in-house funds? If the answer to this is YES – walk away. Structured notes are for ´professional investors only´; they are high-risk and not suitable for a pension which is classed as a retail investment that should be placed into a low-medium risk investment.
6. Do you use a reputable firm for DB transfers? If the answer is NO walk away.
7. Do you carry out a detailed fact-find to establish a client´s risk profile? If the answer is NO walk away.
8. Do you disclose all the fees and commissions at the start? Often we hear of pension scam victims who have been told by their adviser that their pension review is free and no other fees or commissions are mentioned during the transfer process. Once that transfer has completed the clients look at the pension fund value and find that a large chunk has been taken to cover various ´costs´. Every pension fund transfer will have some reasonable charges. However, many scammers apply extra charges and fees that are far above what is reasonable and proportionate. These are often undisclosed. Make sure that your adviser is able to provide – in writing – all of the costs. Once you have these details, you will be able to make an informed decision as to whether you are happy for the transfer to proceed.
9. Do your clients get regular updates on the progress of their funds and have full access to check this for themselves? You should be able to check the progress of your pension whenever you want. However, a good adviser should provide you with a quarterly update. This should include any charges or fees incurred and any profit/loss made. A yearly review should also be carried out to ensure your pension fund is steadily growing with the right investments.
10. How do you deal with customer complaints?
If your offshore adviser refuses to answer the questions or skims around an answer – just walk away. Anyone offering pension advice should adhere to certain criteria and he must be ready and willing to provide you with all the information you ask for. He should be fully transparent about all the details involved with your pension transfer.

Once you have ensured that your adviser is fully qualified and regulated, and operates in a manner that is within your pension fund´s best interests, we would advise you to check out our other blog:

10 essential questions to ask an IFA

This blog covers pension options in a bit more detail.
July 25, 2018
OMI IPO Profit Warning
OMI IPO Profit Warning – urgent please read carefully.

Old Mutual International (OMI) have entered into an IPO – initial public offering. This means they have become a public company rather than a private one. Frequent readers of Pension Life blogs will know that OMI have featured heavily in our recent blogs with regards to issues with structured note provider Leonteq, the selling of fraudulent notes and their involvement in the CWM pension scam.

But now it is very important that the public, and future potential victims of OMI, should be very wary of investing in this company. I have serious concerns about the undisclosed current liabilities and future drops in profits.

I would like to disclose some information about OMI post IPO. Hopefully, this information will reach prospective buyers before they make any purchases of OMI shares. Also, I can see no evidence that OMI have disclosed this information publicly to warn potential investors.

ABOUT OLD MUTUAL INTERNATIONAL (OMI)
- OMI – a company that happily uses high-risk, toxic, illiquid, professional-investor-only notes for pension holders’ funds
- OMI – a company that refuses to take any responsibility for buying totally unsuitable products which end up destroying innocent victims’ hard-earned retirement savings
- OMI IPO – a strategic move forward to make more money from the unsuspecting public – whilst sweeping their past misdemeanours under the carpet
First, let me explain a little more about what an IPO is:

An IPO means that the company can sell stock to the public. Therefore, if a company seems viable to the public, investments into it will be made and these investments will make the company a lot of money.

An IPO can be seen as an exit strategy for the original founders of the company. The shares that are being sold to the public would originally have belonged to the founders and early investors of the company.

An IPO is a way for the original founders to claw back monies they may have invested into the company at the outset.

“Why go public, then? Going public raises a great deal of money for the company in order for it to grow and expand. Private companies have many options to raise capital – such as borrowing, finding additional private investors, or by being acquired by another company. But, by far, the IPO option raises the largest sums of money for the company and its early investors.”
Information from https://www.investopedia.com/university/ipo/ipo.asp

This does, however, mean that:
- The Company (in this case OMI) becomes required to disclose financial, accounting, tax, and other business information
So I wonder if the OMI IPO has disclosed the following information to warn the public of underlying liabilities which will inevitably affect future profits and net asset value:

Between 2012 and 2016, OMI purchased £94m worth of fraudulent structured notes from Leonteq; presumably, a further £94m of non-fraudulent (but still unsuitable) notes from Leonteq; probably a further £94m worth each of Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada and Nomura (many of which performed as badly as the Leonteq fraudulent ones incidentally). Therefore, we could be looking at £470 million worth of structured notes with losses of at least £100 million – probably substantially more. And up to half of this could lie with the victims of the CWM scam.

The term sheets of the Leonteq notes clearly stated:

“Given the complexity of the terms and conditions of this Product, an investment is suitable only for experienced investors who understand and are in a position to evaluate the risks associated with it.”

and

“Products involve a high degree of risk, including the potential risk of expiring worthless. Potential Investors should be prepared in certain circumstances to sustain a total loss of the capital invested to purchase this Product.”

This information about OMI purchasing £94m worth of the fraudulent notes is not hearsay on my part – as is sometimes suggested in the comments on Pension Life’s blogs – any doubters can follow the link to the High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man Civil Division dated 20 March 2018 and read these details.

OMI IPO Profit Warning

It would seem that the OMI IPO is a way for the company to make more money or just get out of losing money. With the High Court proceedings hanging over their heads, there is a chance that they will find themselves heavily in debt if they are instructed to pay back the crippling losses involved.

Going public and selling their shares – what better way is there to avoid taking a massive hit and losing money. Just let more innocent victims buying these shares take the hit on OMI´s past mistakes.

How long can OMI continue to turn a blind eye to the toxic crap they sold – the pension funds they helped destroy? With High Court proceedings underway, alongside their IPO, surely it is only a matter of time before OMI will be forced to air their dirty laundry!

My biggest concern about OMI‘s provisional accounts for the period up to June 2018, is that there is no evidence of any provision for the substantial losses likely to be suffered as a result of buying so many toxic structured notes – including the fraudulent Leonteq ones. There could easily be up to half a billion pounds’ worth of structured note losses due to OMI’s negligence and incompetence. However, on top of this, there could easily be millions – if not billions – worth of toxic, failed UCIS funds which were offered on OMI’s platform. These dreadful funds included LM, Axiom, Mansion and other worthless and/or Ponzi schemes.

If I were a potential investor in OMI, I would ask myself why they haven’t used the £8.365 billion worth of profits they’ve just declared to compensate their thousands of victims who are facing crippling losses to their retirement funds. I would also think seriously about highly-likely sharp drops in OMI’s profits in the very near future. And if I were an investment adviser to any individual considering buying shares in OMI, I would firstly give them a dire profit warning, and secondly ask whether it is right to invest in such an unethical firm.
July 24, 2018
SEB LIFE (OR DEATH) – WILL THE CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE?

One of the hundreds of Continental Wealth Management victims stuck in a useless and expensive SEB Life International bond, and ruined by crippling investment losses, has made a detailed complaint to SEB.

Some idiot from SEB called Orla Golden has replied – and the response is astonishing. Below are my answers to this ridiculous rebuttal. The complaint will now be referred to the Central Bank of Ireland – asking that SEB Life should be suspended. I will also copy this in to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

Let us see whether the regulator and ombudsman in Ireland will turn out to be as useless as the regulator in Gibraltar, or will actually have some teeth. If the authorities in Ireland are any good, hopefully they will hold Conor McCarthy and Peder Nateus fully responsible for facilitating this deplorable scam.

LETTER FROM ORLA GOLDEN TO THE CWM/SEB VICTIM IN RESPONSE TO HIS COMPLAINT (WITH MY COMMENTS IN BOLD):

We are writing to you in response to your recently submitted complaint in respect of your insurance policy with SEB Life International Assurance Company DAC that you placed through your appointed independent financial advisor, Inter-Alliance WorldNet Insurance Agents and Advisors Ltd.

The victims did not place any orders or instructions through Inter-Alliance. SEB is being not only disingenuous but dishonest here. The advisor in question was Continental Wealth Trust SL, trading as Continental Wealth Management SL (CWM) in Alicante Province, Spain. CWM was a firm full of unqualified so-called “advisers” with a track record of scamming, cold-calling and flogging dodgy products to unsuspecting victims. The victims appointed CWM as their advisers, and all the dealing instructions for the toxic structured notes came from CWM and not Inter-Alliance.

SEB Life is a designated activity company which is registered under company number 218391 with the Irish Companies Registration Office and is authorised as a life insurance undertaking by the Central Bank of Ireland under number C771.

So, let’s see just how good a regulator the Central Bank of Ireland really is. We must all hope it is not as hopeless, limp and corrupt as some of the other regulators.

SEB Life is permitted to distribute life insurance policies in Europe (EU) by way of a freedom of services passport issued by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Solvency II Directive 2009/138/EC as adopted into Irish law by the European Communities (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulations 2015 (the “Solvency II Irish Regulations”). That may be true, but these weren’t true life insurance policies: they were bogus policies designed to act as “wrappers” for dodgy, rubbish investments and to facilitate financial crime in multiple European jurisdictions – most notably Spain where such insurance/investment products have been outlawed by the Spanish Supreme Court.

In January 2015, Inter-Alliance novated its business to Trafalgar International GmbH who became your financial advisor.

Not true. Trafalgar International did not become the financial adviser. Few, if any, of the victims had ever heard of Trafalgar until CWM collapsed in September 2017.

Trafalgar is an independent financial advisor located in Germany

No it isn’t – it is located in Cyprus. Orla Golden clearly has never done Geography.

and is authorised and entered into the register of insurance intermediaries maintained by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). Trafalgar is authorised to mediate insurance policies in various EU territories including UK, Spain, Malta and France. Yes, Trafalgar was. But CWM wasn’t.

SEB Life has terms of business with Trafalgar, and previously had terms of business with Inter-Alliance which was authorised by the Insurance Companies Control Service in Cyprus to mediate insurance policies in the EU; before it transferred to Trafalgar. Continental Wealth Management (CWM) was a sub agent of Inter-Alliance

Really? Sub agents are illegal in Spain

and then continued to be a sub-agent of Trafalgar.

No it did not. SEB is lying. CWM was never a sub agent of Trafalgar

CWM is the responsibility of Trafalgar and SEB Life does not have terms of business with them.

So why did SEB accept dealing instructions from CWM if they had no terms of business with the firm?

SEB Life regularly reviews the authorisation of independent financial advisors with whom they have terms of business,

SEB is failing to get its story straight. CWM was not authorised – ever, for anything. SEB may have had terms of business with both Inter-Alliance and Trafalgar, but CWM was never an authorised agent of either firm.

however, it is the independent advisor’s responsibility to comply with their own regulatory obligations for authorisation

And nothing to do with SEB? So, why did SEB accept dealing instructions from CWM?

and their regulatory authorities have oversight responsibilities.

Like the Central Bank of Ireland has oversight responsibilities over SEB? Let’s see how seriously it takes those responsibilities.

Trafalgar, as the appointed independent financial advisor is your agent.

No it isn’t, and wasn’t. Trafalgar was not an IFA firm, it was a network.

Any policy related intermediary commission was paid directly to Trafalgar (formerly Inter-Alliance), with whom SEB Life has terms of business.

So why was SEB paying intermediary commission at all to CWM which was not regulated at all for anything – not pet insurance, not bicycle insurance, nothing. It matters not to whom the commission was paid, the products were sold by an unregulated firm (CWM) and SEB should never have accepted the business – let alone ever paid commission (irrespective of to whom this commission was paid).

As your agent, Trafalgar must handle your complaint in accordance with their agent and regulatory responsibilities.

Trafalgar was never the victims’ agent.

In addition, the pre-sales advising process occurs between you as the policyholder and your appointed agent.

Trafalgar was never the appointed agent. Trafalgar did not provide the advice; Trafalgar did not place the dealing instructions; Trafalgar did not meet the clients.

This process identifies the customer’s needs, based on the information provided by the policyholder(s)

How would SEB know? Did they ever check the fact finds or make any attempt to ascertain the victims’ attitude to risk? No, of course they didn’t

and recommends the insurance product which best suits the customer’s objectives and needs.

This is a ludicrous comment to make. Not one single victim needed a bogus life assurance product – they were all, 100% mis-sold purely for the fat commissions paid by SEB.

SEB Life is not party to this pre-sales advising process and the discussions that occur between a policyholder and their appointed independent financial adviser as to their risk profile and the assets that will fulfill the investment needs and objectives.

Correct. But SEB ought to have noticed, over a period of several consecutive years, the inexorable losses from the toxic structured notes which repeatedly failed – and the dealing instructions for which (submitted by CWM and accepted by SEB) bore forged client signatures. SEB may not have been party to the pre-scamming advice con, but they should certainly have taken action when the results of this clear fraud started to become obvious.

SEB Life does not offer any investment advice, and this is clearly stated in the declaration section of the application form that we ensure is signed by the customer.

And damn good job too. Most victims would probably trust a convicted thief rather than SEB. The declaration section of the application form may make it clear that SEB does not offer investment advice, but the annual statements also make it clear that SEB can do maths. And that basic maths demonstrated that hundreds of policyholders’ funds were being routinely destroyed.

Our literature states that the amounts invested in the Units of the Fund in the contract are not guaranteed but are subject to fluctuations in value depending, in particular, on the performance of financial markets.

There is fluctuation, and then there is total destruction. Fluctuation goes up and down. Destruction just goes down. Did not a single half-wit at SEB notice the difference over a period of seven years?

The return on investment is not in SEB Life’s control and past performance is not an indicator of the future performance of any asset.

So, if Bloodstone Building in Dublin caught fire, would the blind, deaf and dumb idiots at SEB just sit there, shrug their shoulders and say “a fire in the building is not within our control – we aren’t firefighters. And we won’t even bother using the fire extinguishers or calling the fire brigade. We’ll just sit here and watch the building get destroyed and burn to death ourselves?”

SEB also request that a one-page “Statement of Understanding” is signed by a policyholder where an investment request is received in relation to a non-standard asset.

Really? Who told Orla Golden that? The Statement of Understanding Fairy? This simply is not true.

This is to confirm that the policyholder has read and understood the potential financial, market and liquidity risks associated with the asset before proceeding.

None of the victims understood the assets which SEB was permitting the scammers at CWM to churn; none of the victims realised or understood what structured notes; none of the victims knew that structured notes were for professional investors only and not for retail investors; none of the victims knew that they stood to lose part or all of their investment (as most did); none of the victims realised that SEB would just sit there and let the repeated losses keep happening as the unlicensed, unqualified scammers at CWM kept scamming away for seven years.

Policyholders are able to request that their policy be linked to assets that are within the company’s permissible asset list. The investments have been executed by SEB Life on the basis of written instructions submitted to SEB Life that were signed by you as the policyholder

No they weren’t – the signatures were forged

or your appointed investment advisor.

Meaning the unqualified, unlicensed scammers at CWM who did not have an investment license – let alone an insurance license.

SEB Life relief upon and implemented those instructions in good faith and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the policy.

There was nothing good about SEB’s “faith”. This particular victim – whose complaint has not been upheld by SEB – suffered the following losses between 2009 and 2015:

12 toxic, professional-investor-only structured notes from Nomura, RBC, Commerzbank, Leonteq and BNP Paribas:

Lost a total of 271,539 EUR

Investment in the Quadris Teak UCIS fund:

Lost 100,000 GBP

TOTAL LOSS IN SIX YEARS: 371,539 EUR

Didn’t SEB notice? Didn’t SEB care? Didn’t SEB do anything for seven years?

The answer, of course, is a resounding no. The lazy, callous, greedy, negligent did nothing except sit there and watch this victim’s life savings be destroyed by the scammers.

With regard to your allegations of regulatory breaches and fraud committed on your policy, SEB Life is unable to comment on such allegations and these must be discussed with your appointed financial advisor Trafalgar directly.

I have no doubt that SEB’s lawyers will have advised them to keep their mouths shut on this one and to try to deflect the blame onto Trafalgar. This is one of the things I hate about lawyers – even when they know their dirty clients are guilty they will still defend them to the hilt. As long as they keep billing, the lawyers won’t care how many lives their negligent and culpable clients ruin.

In these circumstances, you may wish to seek independent financial advice

I wonder what sort of “adviser” SEB have in mind? Scammers like CWM?

and/or legal advice regarding your engagements with your appointed financial adviser.

And I wonder what sort of law firm SEB would recommend? A dodgy firm like SEB’s own lawyers who are happy to make money out of defending the indefensible?

July 12, 2018
Spectrum IFA Group – qualified and registered?

If you have been following Pension Life´s blogs you will know that we have been conducting a series of investigations into qualified and registered financial advisers in various firms. Today is Spectrum IFA Group – qualified and registered?

IFAs and their clients are invited to add to it, correct it, improve it. Here’s a link to the two registers if you want to double check:

http://www.cii.co.uk/web/app/membersearch/MemberSearch.aspx

https://www.cisi.org/cisiweb2/cisi-website/join-us/cisi-member-directory

Please note that this data is correct as of 9am 29/06/2018

edit: we have been informed that there is a third website we can check for qualifications, so this page is in the process of editing whilst we see if any names appear on the libf members website.

https://www.libf.ac.uk/members-and-alumni/sps-and-cpd-register

The Spectrum IFA Group – qualified and registered? They have six Spanish offices, plus offices in France, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. They claim to have a presence in Portugal, but nobody seems to work there.

In the Continental Wealth Management disaster, 1,000 victims had £100 million invested by unqualified scammers in “life bonds” provided by OMI, SEB and Generali – completely pointless and unnecessary except to pay fat commissions to the scammers; then invested in high-risk, professional-investor-only structured notes which were entirely unsuitable for pensions and resulted in crippling losses.

The lessons have to be learned from the Continental Wealth scam, and it is really important that all advisory firms make it clear how their advisers are qualified and also make it easy for the public to check out their qualifications. Let’s have a look at another European advisory firm: Spectrum IFA Group.

ONE THING THAT WORRIES US ABOUT THIS FIRM IS THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER OF THIS FIRM HAVING ANY INVESTMENT LICENSES – ONLY INSURANCE LICENSES. So, it is fine for their advisers to sell pet, car and house insurance, but certainly not to advise on pensions or investments.

Spectrum IFA Group state – “Our internationally qualified, professional advisers are readily available to make certain you receive the best possible advice and superb service, bringing you peace of mind for the following areas: QROPS…Pensions in Spain.”

Unfortunately, Spectrum doesn’t score too high on their staff’s qualified and registered status…we looked them up on the CII and CISI registers. There are, of course, other institutes which can be used – but the firm should make it clear how their advisers are qualified – as well as to what level – and make it easy for the public to check this out.

Barcelona

Jonathan Goodman – CII registered Spain International – but not registered as Chartered so not qualified to give pensions advice – not on libf.ac.uk -bu t –

Paul Roberts – Not listed on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Richard Rose – Claims he holds an International Financial Planning Certificate – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Barry Davys – Not listed on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Cédric Privat – Not listed on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Chris Burke – Listed on the CII register for Spain – but not registered as Chartered – not on libf.ac.uk

Costa Blanca

Robin Beven – CII registered Spain international (but only Cert PFS which is Level 3 – the minimum required in the UK is Level 4, so this begs the question whether Beven should be allowed to advise on UK pensions) – not on libf.ac.uk

John Hayward – CII registered Spain international – not on libf.ac.uk

Annette Bowen – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

David Hattersley – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Dennis Radford – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Mike Churchley – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Costa Del Sol

Pauline Bowden – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Charles Hutchinson – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Murcia & Almeria

Robin Beven – CII register Spain International (but how can he work here and also in the Costa Blanca office)

John Hayward – CII registered Spain International

Dennis Radford – not on either CII or CISI register (ANOTHER duplicate employee works for Costa Blanca also?)

Mick Churchley – not on either CII or CISI register (and yet ANOTHER duplicate employee works for Costa Blanca also?)

Basically the Murcia & Almeria office just lists some of the Costa Blanca office employees – a cause for concern??? The two members of the team that we can find on the register are not qualified to give pension advice and no information as to whether the rest have a financial qualification at all

Mallorca & Menorca

Susan Worthington – not on either CII or CISI register – not on libf.ac.uk

Madrid

Chris Webb – Claims CISI – not listed on the register – not on libf.ac.uk

edit: despite the libf register NONE of the Spectrum IFA group in Spain appear on it, this means the original score sticks.

Spectrum IFA Group – qualified and registered? score just 4/16 so far (but we will see what the score is when we finish reporting on all the advisers in all the offices in Europe).

….and on to the rest of Europe…

July 1, 2018
Blacktower Spain – Qualified and Registered?

Can Blacktower Spain fare any better than other companies we have looked into? How many of their advisers will come out qualified and registered?

If you have been following Pension Life´s blogs you will know that we have been conducting a series of investigations into qualified and registered financial advisers in various firms. Today is Blacktower Spain – qualified and registered?

IFAs and their clients are invited to add to it, correct it, improve it. Here’s a link to the two registers if you want to double check:

http://www.cii.co.uk/web/app/membersearch/MemberSearch.aspx

https://www.cisi.org/cisiweb2/cisi-website/join-us/cisi-member-directory

Please note that this data is correct as of 9am 25/06/2018

edit: we have been informed that there is a third website we can check for qualifications, so this page is in the process of editing whilst we see if any names appear on the libf members website. 02/07/2018

https://www.libf.ac.uk/members-and-alumni/sps-and-cpd-register

Blacktower has several offices in Spain – so let’s see which one is the best.

Blacktower Spain – Barcelona

Andy Clelland – International Financial Adviser – not on either CII OR CISI register despite a long list of qualifications – not on libf.ac.uk

Francisco Mahfuz – Regional Manager Barcelona – Claims CII and CISI but does NOT appear on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

David Marks – International Financial Adviser – Claims CII – a Mr David Alan Marks DipPFS appears on the CII register. Also Claims CISI but not on the register – not on libf.ac.uk

Bernhard Rufli – International Financial Adviser – again a long list of qualifications claimed but alas NOT ON EITHER CII OR CISI REGISTER!– not on libf.ac.uk

Glenn Stroud – International Financial Adviser – CII registered – not on libf.ac.uk

Barcelona 1 out of 5!

No extra points using the libf register

*************************************

Black Tower Spain – Costa Calida

Keith Littlewood – Regional Manager – Claims a good list of qualifications – does not appear on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Paul Price – International Financial Adviser – A Paul Anthony Price DipPFS does appear on the CII register – but it says he is based in Chelmsford – not on libf.ac.uk

A possible 1 out of 2 – but only possibly!

No extra points using the libf register

************************************

Blacktower Spain Costa Del Sol

Kenneth Baek – International Financial Adviser – Not on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Richard Black – International Financial Adviser – claims the title FPC – but does not appear on any register – not on libf.ac.uk

Tim Govaerts – Associate Director – States he IS a CII member but he ISN´T registered

Patrick Macdonald – International Financial Adviser – claims to be a member of both – DOES NOT appear on either register – not on libf.ac.uk EDIT: Patrick Macdonald is now listed on the CISI membership website.

Richard Mills – International Financial Adviser – claims qualifications in CII and CISI – but does not appear on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Jose Olabarrieta – International Financial Adviser – Not on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Chris Pickering – International Financial Adviser – He states he is CISI qualified but he IS NOT on the register – not on libf.ac.uk

Craig Webb – International Financial Adviser – No claim to qualifications and not on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Ian Scholes – International Financial Adviser – Lists that he is CII and he IS CII registered – not on libf.ac.uk

Quentin Sellar – International Financial Adviser – Boast a whole host of qualifications and he IS on the CII register – not on libf.ac.uk

Well done Sellar and Scholes

2 out of 10 for the Costa Del Sol!

No extra points using the libf register

************************************

Blacktower Spain Costa Blanca

Christina Brady – Associate Director – Claims two qualifications in CISI but does not appear on the register – not on libf.ac.uk

Wayne Martin – International Financial Adviser – Claims to be a member of both CII and CISI but only appears on the CII register – not on libf.ac.uk

Dave Diggle – International Financial Adviser – states his expertise is QROPS but he doesn´t appear on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Richard Samuels – International Financial Adviser – his areas of expertise are Pension Planning/Transfers but he IS NOT on either register – not on libf.ac.uk

Graham Dixon – International Financial Adviser – IS CII registered! – not on libf.ac.uk

Andrew Gibson DipIP – International Financial Adviser – IS CII registered! – not on libf.ac.uk

2 out of 6 for the Costa Blanca team!

No extra points using the libf register

************************************

Gibraltar Head office

John Westwood – Group Managing Director – IS CII registered

Robert Mancera – Director and General Manager – IS CII registered

Ally Kerr – Group Director – Claims CII but DOES NOT appear on the register

Patricia Risso – Non-Executive Director – No claims and not listed on either register

Paul Rhodes – Associate Director – a Mr Paul John Rhodes Lakin ACII is listed on the CII register – could this be him?

Paul Howard – International Financial Adviser – Many Paul Howards are listed on the CII register – let’s hope one of them is him!

2 out of 6 definitely with a possible 4 out of 6 – not bad Gibraltar! You definitely come out as top office of Blacktower Spain – qualified and registered?

No extra points using the libf register

************************************

edit: despite the libf register NONE of the Blacktower Spain team appear on it, this means the original score sticks.

7 out of 29 qualified and registered in the Blacktower Spain office – 75% unqualified and unregistered!

Pretty poor result Blacktower.

June 25, 2018
10 essential questions to ask an IFA
Most victims of pension and investment scams bitterly regret not having asked more questions with regards to their financial planning. The problem is that they wouldn’t have known what questions to ask, and they probably wouldn’t have understood the answers even if they had. Pension Life offer you 10 essential questions to ask an IFA so you can ensure you are not the next victim.

All existing victims wish they had asked questions, obtained assurances, checked advisers’ qualifications and regulation. But, of course, it is now too late for the victims who have lost part or all of their life savings.

These victims all agree that it is important to prevent future victims. This is why we have come up with these 10 essential questions to ask an IFA, when considering financial planning and the transfer of your pension:

1 – How is the adviser and/or his firm licensed to provide advice to you in the jurisdiction where you – the client – live? Don’t be fobbed off with the answer that the adviser has an insurance license – that isn’t enough. The adviser needs an investment license. Also, don’t be fobbed off if the adviser says the firm is licensed in another jurisdiction – it needs to be licensed for where you, the client, live.

2 – If you are transferring a DB (defined benefit) or FS (final salary) scheme, you must get FCA regulated, qualified, independent advice on the merits of the transfer. Remember, the advice might be that you are better off leaving your pension where it is.

3 – Make sure the transfer recommendation (from a DB or FS scheme) is correct. Get a second opinion. You only get to do this once – and if the wrong road is chosen, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to correct it.

Check that the transfer advice report makes it clear that you, the client, are being advised on the transfer and that the advice is about what you should do – not what you could do.

4 – Don’t let the adviser put you into an insurance bond. Examples of these are Old Mutual International, SEB, Generali, Friends Provident, RL360, Hansard, Investors Trust. An insurance bond is a wrapper. A QROPS is a wrapper. You don’t need two wrappers. That’s like Superman wearing two pairs of pants over his tights.

The only purpose an insurance bond serves is to pay the IFA 8% commission. Plus, the insurance bond will tie you in for between five and ten years, and you neither need nor want to do that with a pension.

Insurance companies will take business from any old unlicensed, unqualified scammers. They don’t care. The quarterly charges are called “management charges” but that is very misleading because they don’t do any actual managing. Once the value of your fund starts to diminish because of the high charges and the toxic, illiquid, high-risk investments, the insurance company will keep taking its fees – sometimes until the whole fund is extinguished and worthless.

5 – What qualifications does the adviser have?

You wouldn’t take medical advice from an unqualified person posing as a doctor; legal advice from an unqualified person posing as a solicitor or accountancy advice from a person posing as an accountant. So why take financial adviser from someone with no qualifications?

It is a sad fact that in many jurisdictions, so-called advisers spring up with no qualifications and even no Financial Panning experience. Sometimes, they had been selling mortgages, second-hand cars or ice cream the previous week to selling pensions.

Pension Life covered the question of qualifications in a recent blog by Kim:

Using advice from Chartered Global about financial qualifications, you can discover that:
Level 3 Financial Adviser Qualifications

The most basic or entrance tier is the certificate level which is classed as a level 3 qualification within the UK framework, equivalent to A levels. Level 3 qualifications include:

CertCII: Certificate in Financial Planning issued by the Chartered Insurance Institute

CertPFS: Certificate in Financial Planning issued by the Personal Finance Society

CeFA: Certificate in Financial Advice issued by the Institute of Financial Services

Cert IM: Certificate in Investment Management issued by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment

Level 3 qualifications are sometimes held by adviser office staff and certain mortgage or protection advisers in a bank for example. These certificates require passing a selection of exams over 1-2 years and holders will have a general grounding in financial planning and financial services.
Level 4 Financial Adviser Qualifications

However, since 2012 financial advisers in the UK have been required to hold a minimum of a level 4 qualification to be able to continue to provide independent financial planning advice. The minimum required qualification to provide independent financial planning advice in the UK is now the diploma level, a level 4 professional qualification.

Look for the following letters or designations to identify a level 4 adviser:

DipCII: Diploma in Financial Planning issued by the CII

DipPFS: Diploma in Financial Planning issued by the PFS

DipFA: Diploma in Financial Advice issued by the IFS

IAD: Investment Advice Diploma issued by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment

Building on the certificate knowledge, level 4 advisers will offer a well-rounded understanding of financial planning and products, from general investments, structured products, to basic pension, protection, tax and savings advice.
Level 6 Financial Adviser Qualifications

A full two levels higher are the profession’s top tier of financial advisers; holders of level 6 qualifications equivalent to a bachelor honours degree. Completing a comprehensive suite of professional exams over many years, these top-flight advisers will be designated through one of the following:

APFS: Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning issued by the CII

CFPCM: Certified Financial Planner

Adv DipFA: Advanced Diploma in Financial Advice issued by the IFS

Advisers at this level will have advanced expertise in the main areas of general financial planning.
6 – Is the adviser planning on investing your life savings in professional-investor-only structured notes?

Structured notes are complex, risky, expensive derivatives which are only suitable for sophisticated investors who understand them. Few advisers/brokers understand them – but love them because of the very high commissions they pay. They also love them because once they have purchased them, there is no management to do – only stand back and watch them plummet in value.

Examples of structured note providers are Leonteq (currently being sued by Old Mutual International for fraud), Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada and Nomura. There are, of course, many more out there.

However, if your adviser/broker says he wants to invest part of your life savings in structured notes – ignore any old baloney about “capital protection” – and RUN LIKE HELL!

7 – Why are the firm’s own in-house funds used? An adviser can’t be independent if he is recommending his own firm’s own funds.

The way that financial advice is supposed to work is the adviser does a thorough, detailed fact find to analyse the client’s individual circumstances and risk profile. Then the adviser can go out into the market and find the most suitable and cost-effective investment products.

There is a huge choice and many good low-cost investment platforms. But some firms set up their “own” funds – which are merely somebody else’s fund which has been “white labelled” as the firm’s fund. This means there are two layers of charges.

An adviser cannot be independent if he is advising that his own fund should be the investment choice. This recommendation is usually made because of the extra commission which can be earned from an in-house fund, rather than because it is in the client’s best interests.

8 – Are UCIS funds going to be used?

Many a poor victim has lived to regret his trust and faith in a silver-tongued adviser’s ability to manage his investments. UCIS funds (Unregulated, collective investment schemes) are inevitably high risk and can have catastrophic results.

Such funds include EEA Life Settlements, LM, Harlequin, Brandeaux Student Accommodation, Premier New Earth Recycling, Dolphin Trust and many more which are sometimes no more than Ponzi schemes. Underlying assets include forestry, “clean” energy, eucalyptus and truffle-tree plantations, chia seeds, fine art, wines and speculative property.

Life savings have been decimated by failed UCIS funds – make sure your adviser/broker understands you don’t want your money to be invested in any of these toxic, high-risk, unregulated funds. You could well be promised high returns, but you have to remember that with high returns comes high risk.

9 – What is the full extent of the charges/fees/commissions on the entire transaction?

So many advisers conceal the full extent of ALL the fees and commissions. Victims only find out about them long after it is way too late. The “drag” on a fund can be catastrophic, even without investment losses.

If you are being advised to go into a QROPS, there will be the set-up and yearly ongoing charge (as well as exit charge); the adviser will charge between 2% and 3% set-up and then 1% (at least) annually; if UCIS funds are used, these can pay up to 25% commission (or even more sometimes); if structured notes are used, these can pay between 6% (for the regular ones) and 8% (for the fraudulent Leonteq ones). Then there is the 8% on the insurance bond. Then there is anything else the adviser can slip in without you noticing.

Victims of poor advice often only notice the dragging effect of all these charges on their fund after a year or so – or more. And by then it is too late, and the fund can never recover.

10 – Why were you graded as a “7” balanced investor – or even higher as an “adventurous” investor (when, clearly, you should have been graded as a low-risk investor)?

Here is the basic problem – the higher an investor’s risk profile is, the riskier the investments can be. This, of course, means that the riskier the investments are, the more commission the adviser can make.

After suffering crippling losses, many victims (retrospectively) look at their statements and documentation and find that they were graded as medium or high risk without their knowledge or consent. The adviser’s excuse is that the client valued growth above all else and that this was reflected in the risk assessment questionnaire.

Often, clients start off as low to medium risk, and then the adviser surreptitiously increases the risk profile. This can have catastrophic consequences for investors – and is what ALL of the known victims report as being the cause of their crippling losses.

The bottom line is that the public needs to be educated and warned about the bad practices offshore. Only by spreading the word about what happened to existing victims, will future victims be prevented.

People who have lost part – or all – of their pensions and life savings, are devastated and destroyed. They are facing potential poverty in retirement. Some will lose their homes, their health and their relationships. Some will take their own lives.
June 25, 2018
CWM Pension scam – A victim’s reconstruction

John Rodges had a pension pot of £202,000. He was cold called by a salesman called Dean Stogsdill and persuaded to transfer his pension fund to a QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) with Continental Wealth Management (CWM pension scam using high-risk, professional-investor-only structured notes which Stogsdill referred to as “Blue Chip Notes”).

With false promises of greater flexibility, better growth and a 25% tax-free cash lump sum, the transfer seemed like a good opportunity. In reality, it was an offer too good to be true – it was a pension scam- in which the CWM salesmen, Dean Stogsdill and Anthony Downs would reap high commissions. The victims – like John Rogers – would be left with heavy losses.

67 year old John Rodgers, a former research and development chemist, had a collection of occupational and private pensions in the UK. As he had moved to Spain 11 years previously, he had the opportunity of consolidating his pension into a QROPS.

Stogsdill – Chief Executive of CWM, assured John Rodgers that he had been evaluated as a low-medium risk investor, and that the costs would be 1.75% a year over a period of five years – or 1.5% for ten years. This would be based on the original value of the investment, so the promised growth of 8% would not incur any further costs. He was also promised that life assurance would be ‘thrown in’. Unfortunately, John was to become the next victim of the CWM pension scam.

What actually happened was John Rodger’s pension fund was invested into a selection of high-risk structured notes from Royal Bank of Canada – “Blue Chip Notes”. John was told that these “Blue Chip Notes”, were capital protected inside a life bond which would give him life assurance. No real explanation of what a structured note actually was, was given to John.

Structured notes are generally high-risk, FOR PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY. Therefore, these “Blue Chip Notes” had no place in a pension fund. This investment strategy was part of the CWM pension scam – earning salesmen like Stogsdill big bucks while destroying innocent victims’ pension funds.

Stogsdill also failed to disclose the commissions they were going to earn from the life assurance bond and the “Blue Chip Notes” so even before John’s funds were placed in the toxic high-risk investements – they had incurred a significant loss.

It took just two years for John’s fund to plummet to half of its original value. However, CWM assured him that it was just a “paper loss”, and that the fund would go back up at maturity.

However, CWM went ‘bust’ before the fund could mature. togsdill and all the other salesmen did a runner!

Today John’s pension fund is worth just £60,000 (if he is lucky).

Pension Life has reconstructed John’s story and we would like to share it, in the hope that other people can spot the signs of a pension scam like CWM and avoid falling victim to the scammers – the only ones who profit from investments like these.

It is estimated that up to 1,000 people fell victim to the CWM pension scam and that around 40 million pounds was lost to these high-risk, toxic investments with providers such as

Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura Commerzbank and Leonteq.

The CWM pension scam was promoted by unqualified, unregulated salesmen posing as financial advisers. People who were not legally allowed to provide this kind of financial advice. The scam was promoted with outright lies and undisclosed fees and costs.

Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions

A financial adviser that can be linked to not just the CWM pension scam, but also many others including Ark, is a man called STEPHEN WARD (pictured). He IS fully qualified AND registered with the CII. However, he does not have a conscience when it comes to destroying hard-earned pension funds – check out another of Pension Life’s videos:

Pension Scams – Stephen Ward

If the name Stephen Ward appears on any pension transfer you are offered, make sure you say no and walk away – Pete and Val – another couple who were victims of the CWM pension scam – wish they had.

When considering transferring your pension fund, please make sure you check all the facts and fully understand all of the costs. Ensure your pension is going into a suitable retail investment – not a structured note.

Kim – a member of the Pension Life team is writing a series of blogs about pensions and we would love it if everyone would read and share these. Let’s stop pension scammers in their tracks worldwide by educating the masses on pension rules and regulations.

What is a pension scam?

June 21, 2018