Happy Halloween – but do watch out for scary monsters. ESPECIALLY PENSION SCAMMERS! The scariest monsters at Halloween (or, indeed, at any time of the year) are the bad guys in financial services. As my dear old Mum used to say: “It’s not the dead you should be afraid of – it’s the living”. Never […]
Halloween ghouls and scammers Read More »
The Kiwis were grass and England was a lawnmower. For a couple of hours we forgot Brexit and remembered our national pride. In a Week that saw an inconclusive result in the UK v Europe match (yet again), at least England taught New Zealand how to play rugby. And the battle against pension scams moved
Pension Life – Pension File October 2019 Read More »
GFS QROPS LIQUIDATION: It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to ask the GFS Superannuation Scheme 2 (Hong Kong QROPS) members to support a petition for the winding up of the scheme and the liquidation of the underlying assets. For two years, I have been waiting for due process through the courts
GFS QROPS LIQUIDATION Read More »
Jody Smart (or Bell or Kirby or whatever name she uses now) appeared in the Criminal Court in Denia on 1st October 2019. As one of the group of defendants in the fraud trial – including her former partner Darren Kirby (who didn’t turn up) – she testified about her involvement in the £100 million
Jody Smart of CWM – courting justice Read More »
When I grow up, I want to be a hairdresser. Not a care in the World other than how short/long/blonde/purple/curly/straight my clients want their Barnets. And nothing to talk about other than where they will go on holiday: Torremolinos, Benidorm or Amsterdam (wink wink…). But for now, I’m stuck in the real World – the
Money First – World First Read More »
The FC A hasn’t got a ****ing Scooby. The Federation of Consolidated Apathy has now proved way beyond reasonable doubt that it is clueless about pensions in general. And worse – much worse – that it doesn’t understand the deadly problems with DB pension transfer advice. The Federation of Consolidated Apathy has published a video
DB transfers: FCA hasn’t a Scooby Read More »
Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! Just how many warning signs do you need? Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! After the Continental Wealth Management debacle – a fraud facilitated by the usual suspects: Old Mutual International, Generali and SEB – the public must be warned about similar firms which are likely to
Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! Read More »
Locked out of LinkedIn for Defamation? Moi? “Due to the receipt of multiple defamation claim reports, your account has been restricted pending your agreement to our terms. Please note that it’s our policy to terminate user accounts when we receive multiple reports of this nature.” But who could have reported me for defamation? The problem
Locked Out of LinkedIn Read More »
Boris Johnson for PM – sorting out pension scams? Hey BJ – just a quick note to wish you luck in the PM contest. If you win, please make it your priority to sort out pension fraud. Treating head lice – like fighting pension scammers – is a matter of the utmost urgency. Everyone knows
Dear Boris – when you’re PM… Read More »
What is a death bond? Also known as a life bond, portfolio bond, executive bond, offshore bond – or, if you are a commission-based broker – an 8% commission bond. Who provides death bonds? The usual suspects (many of whom also provide ghastly long-term savings plans that ruin savers): Old Mutual International RL360 SEB Lombard
HOW DO PENSION SCAMS WORK? Every pension scam starts with a negligent transfer. Ceding providers hand over millions of pounds to pension scammers every year. Firms – from Aviva to Zurich – ignore warnings by regulators and HMRC. The providers tick their boxes; the scammers make their millions; the victims are ruined. The ceding providers
Transferring pensions to scammers – the ABC of shame Read More »
The Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) has carried out a pilot survey on pension scams. The survey has identified seven key findings and concluded that most scams are carried out by rogue advisers and unregulated “introducers”. This is something we write about regularly, so it is great that PSIG has finally caught up. Henry Tapper
Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds – rogue advisers Read More »
