Tag: PENSION SCAM

Where’s my pension?

Henry Tapper has published an interesting article about the problem of the number of lost pensions. We live in an age where careers are much more fluid and many people move companies or retrain and change professions. This mean many people may have had five or six different jobs (if not more) throughout their working career. Keeping track and actually remembering who all their employers were is difficult, let alone remembering who the ceding provider of their pension was 30 years ago. Where’s my pension? is now a frequently asked question.

Henry writes:

‘According to the Pension Policy Institute , there is £20,000,000,000 of other people’s money swilling about in pension trusts, in the troughs of life insurance companies or “managed” in “self-invested” personal pensions.’

That is a huge amount of money that has been worked hard for and is to get someone through their later years. So how can we answer the question: Where’s my pension?

Well apparently, according to Henry’s intelligence, the DWP were going to do something about this situation back in March. However, – and really not that surprisingly – it’s now December and nothing has been done!

The DWP had proposed a pensions ‘dashboard’, a go-to for people who were stuck with the unanswered question of ‘Where’s my pension?’ But we are still waiting for this to be completed and explained.

Currently, you can use professional pension finding services like Origo or Experian to find your missing pension(s), although this is lengthy and not free of charge. Henry and the Sun newspaper have kindly put together this DIY dashboard pension finding advice.

So, in answer to the question: ‘Where is my pension?’ it is probably wise to DIY your pension dashboard. If you wait for the DWP you may be cold in the ground before their proposals are actually met! Meaning they get your money! No surprise, then, that they are being slow with their proposals.

We also need to remember that scammers are lurking in the undergrowth, so will this be the next scam tactic?

Stuck on the question, “Where’s my pension??” Never fear. We can help. Free pensions finding service and review.’

When it comes to finance, nothing in life comes for free. These free pension reviews are often followed by high commissions and even toxic, high-risk investments. Leaving you worse off than you were when you were stuck with the ‘Where’s my pension?’ question.

If you want help with your pension, make sure you use a fully qualified and reputable firm. Ensure you know ALL of the fees and costs that will be applied to your pension transfer, the day it happens as well as annually. Make sure you know the right questions to ask your adviser.

If in doubt, walk away. Safeguard your pension from the pension scammers.

Trolley’s Pension Scam Guide

December 6, 2018
FT Adviser Top 100 Financial Advisers 2018

I have enormous respect for FT Adviser. Their articles are written by proper journalists and they generally write competently and professionally. FT Adviser puts International Adviser to shame with their thinly-disguised promotional shows and Micky Mouse “articles” which only ever promote their own sponsors – Old Mutual International and their ilk.

It was really interesting to read FT Adviser’s recent “Top 100 Financial Advisers 2018“. I had, however, never heard of most of the advisory firms. But that is hardly surprising because nobody ever comes to me and says “guess what, I’ve got a really good adviser and am making good returns on my investments”. And I presume that all the advisory firms listed by FT Adviser are full of happy clients who never need to complain about being scammed into unsuitable investments and losing money due to a combination of high, undisclosed charges and trading losses within insurance bonds (particularly OMI’s).

However, and it is a big “however”, there are a couple of firms on the list which should have had big red asterisks against them – largely because they discredit the rankings, the other firms on the list and FT Adviser’s reputation. These are Quilter PLC and Canaccord Genuity Group.

Canaccord Genuity Group is under investigation by the FCA for non-disclosure of investment charges. Coming 24th in the top 100 list, it is very worrying that an advisory firm that lies about how much investments cost should have £990,000,000 worth of assets under management. I wonder what the investment charges are on that little lot and how much non-disclosure of related charges has gone on. Let us not forget that “non-disclosure” means lying – and with almost one billion under management that is very serious indeed.

However, Canaccord Genuity Group’s porky pies do pale into a degree of insignificance when compared to Quilter plc which came sixth with £10.3 billion worth of sales and £29 billion worth of assets under management. Quilter plc is Old Mutual International, which is the life office which helped scam hundreds of victims out of their life savings. So surely FT Adviser should have put a really bright double red asterisk against this firm on the league table? (Or perhaps they didn’t care, as Quilter was the lead sponsor?).

If Quilter is managing £29 billion worth of assets – presumably on behalf of thousands of investors – I wonder how much of this has been used to buy toxic, high-risk structured notes. As Old Mutual International seems to be claiming there is nothing wrong with destroying millions of pounds’ worth of clients’ funds by making inappropriate investments, the same must be true of Quilter plc.

Old Mutual International was buying many millions of pounds’ worth of structured notes provided by Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura and Leonteq between 2010 and 2017. OMI has disclosed that at least £94 million worth of the Leonteq notes were fraudulent, and is now suing Leonteq.

I have to confess, if I were a client of Quilter plc, I would be inclined to change advisers sharpish – although most certainly not to Canaccord Genuity. Mind you, that still seems to leave 98 other firms worth considering.

But, despite the embarrassing inclusion of these two dud firms, congratulations to FT Adviser for the hard work which must have gone into producing this hit parade. This is definitely one in the eye for the hopeless nitwits at International Adviser.

December 3, 2018
Dolphin Trust’s Lawyers JMW Solicitors LLP

Having the highest possible regard for lawyers in general, and JMW Solicitors in particular, it is good to report that there is now a dialogue in progress which will hopefully result in Dolphin Trust producing a copy of the audited accounts. An excellent outcome would also be the repayment of the loan notes.

JMW Solicitors appears to be a promising outfit – especially as their website states: “No matter who you are or what you need, you can be assured of a great personal service from us.” As we need a copy of the Dolphin Trust audited accounts and the return of the money that Dolphin Trust borrowed (unsecured) from hundreds of pension and investment scam victims, I hope this promised great personal service will extend to a prompt and hassle-free resolution to the Dolphin Trust lenders’ problem.

The lawyer from JMW acting for Dolphin Trust – Nick McAleenan – has championed the cause of the supermarket chain: Morrisons.

MORRISONS DATA LEAK CASE – MORRISONS HELD LIABLE IN LANDMARK COURT RULING

JMW is representing thousands of claimants in a legal action for compensation against Morrisons Supermarkets.

The case is the leading legal case in the UK concerning “data breach”. It relates to the unauthorised copying and disclosure of Morrisons payroll information by a disgruntled ex-employee. In 2017, the High Court ruled that Morrisons is legally responsible for the data breach. In 2018, Morrisons appealed the High Court’s judgment, but the Court of Appeal dismissed Morrisons’ appeal. Further legal proceedings will take place to determine what compensation must be paid to the victims.

Nick McAleenan clearly has genuine empathy for the awful ordeal suffered by the Morrisons victims who had to undergo the trauma of having their privacy violated.

I sincerely hope this will translate into similar empathy for scam victims whose life savings have been “loaned” to his clients: Dolphin Trust.

If Nick (interesting name!) wants any clarification about how these scam victims compare to the Morrisons supermarket victims, he might want to have a chat with some of the victims of the STM Fidecs Trafalgar Multi-Asset Fund scam.

Plus a little word in Nick’s shell-like: Morrisons’ audited accounts can be found here. (There – that wasn’t difficult!).

November 12, 2018
CAPITA OAK PENSION SCAM AND THURLSTONE LOANS

Capita Oak – the perfect scam

This is a letter I wrote to XXXX XXXX´s solicitor back in April 2017. It was ignored. Of course.

Dear Thurlstone, (XXXX XXXX)

I am now preparing the appeals for the Capita Oak victims against the tax assessments issued by HMRC in respect of the 5% Thurlstone “loans” which are being treated as unauthorised payments. What I require is full disclosure as to the exact source of the funds for these payments.

HMRC Protected Assessment – tax demand for the Thurlstone loans

My problem is that there is scant evidence along the audit trail to be able to prove exactly where the loans came from and I need to be able to establish that the money did not come from the pension funds – if possible. Indeed, from the point of transfer, pretty much every penny is accounted for as the money passed through the various scammers’ hands from the ceding providers to Metis Law solicitors. Along the way, some fees were paid out as summarised by the Insolvency Service:

“£100,873 paid to Metis Law on behalf of Hawkshead Properties in lieu of fees due to NATIONWIDE BENEFIT CONSULTANTS

£86,632 paid to Alan Fowler

£83,485 Paid to WJP Admin and Copeland South for Bill Perkins

£73,811 paid to KE Media Services Ltd for Jason Holmes

No fee payments were made direct to NATIONWIDE BENEFIT CONSULTANTS but in addition to the payment made to Metis Law on behalf of Hawkshead Properties a payment of £100,558 was made from funds held by Metis Law to THURLSTONE on the instruction of Karl Dunlop who told me who the person was behind Thurlstone (XXXX XXXX) – the “Ginger Scammer”).”

So, we know that the individual behind Thurlstone – XXXX XXXX – received £100,873 plus £100,558 i.e. £201,431 direct from the pension transfers via Hawkshead and Thurlstone. But did he use any part of that money to pay the 5% loans to the victims?

The £10.8 million worth of pension transfers is fully accounted for on its way from the victims’ original pensions through the hands of the scammers. We now have hard evidence as to who was operating the Thurlstone loans – as had been stated by Karl Dunlop when interviewed by Len Fenton of the Insolvency Service. So where did the loan money come from?

It would be much appreciated if the operators of Thurlstone would provide this information as it is required for the tax appeals immediately, and will also be needed for the Tax Tribunals in due course. As the individual behind Thurlstone also runs a company called Nationwide Tax Administration, I have no doubt he will appreciate the seriousness and urgency of this matter for which he is responsible:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/4fJ6N2QgENAewXq8q2BPVbH823s/appointments

I have asked whether the individual behind Thurlstone (XXXX XXXX) could repay the £201,431 he received from the Capita Oak scam so that it can be used for the benefit of the victims. Undoubtedly, this “gentleman” will appreciate the distress the 300 victims are experiencing now that on top of fearing the total loss of their pensions, they have just received tax demands from HMRC because of the Thurlstone loans.

There isn’t time to tip-toe around this issue as we only have about three weeks left to appeal the tax assessments. It would be really good to see some degree of honesty, honour and decency after all the nefarious conduct of the past four years in the Capita Oak matter.

November 12, 2018
AZURE PENSIONS – a reputation built on lack of trust

Integrated Capabilities – a Trust Company based in Malta have created their own Pension Scheme – Azure Pensions. On the face of it, however, the management team do not appear to have learned anything from their previous experience with Optimus Retirement Benefit Scheme No.1 and their association with David Vilka of Square Mile International Financial. It appears they have now teamed up with some very dubious friends – the result of which is very likely to create more victims of UK pension scams.

I AM GRATEFUL TO STEVE – ONE OF THE BLACKMORE GLOBAL/DAVID VILKA VICTIMS – FOR RE-WRITING THIS BLOG AT THE REQUEST OF INTEGRATED CAPABILITIES’ LAWYER.

The Azure website states: “We believe that trust is built and earned. As such we have an ingrained and sustained desire to develop long-term relationships with our clients”. These are just words and words are easy. It’s what you do that counts.

In 2015, the Optimus scheme started out with 26 members and by the end finished up with 1,176 – that’s a gain of almost 100 new members per month! I was one such member conned into transferring my pension by fraudulent misrepresentations made by David Vilka of Square Mile Financial Services.

My pension was inappropriately invested in unregulated collective investment schemes, wrapped in a useless life assurance bond from Investors Trust (based in the Caymans). One of those funds was Blackmore Global run by Phillip Nunn & Patrick McCreesh. This pair is on record for earning almost £1m generating leads for the Capita Oak and Henley scams.

This new pension arrangement locked me in for 10 years – definitely a “long-term relationship” – giving all parties the opportunity to drain my pension dry in fees. Credit where credit is due, however. Once I discovered I was in a scam, the director Andy Dawson (bottom row, 3rd from the left) did make an extraordinary effort not only to redeem the investments but successfully persuaded most parties to waive their early exit penalties and refund their fees. Only the greedy Symphony Fund chose to keep the penalties and that’s after mysteriously dropping in value 30% just before redemption. Thanks to Andy Dawson and his team, I did manage to get back 92% of my pension. But the BIG QUESTION is what has happened to the other 1,100+ members? It is inconceivable I was the only one transferred into this scheme via Vilka et al.

Another claim made by Azure Pensions is: “Our people are highly experienced, knowledgeable and motivated to do their utmost to ensure that they deliver a superior, professional and hassle-free service.” But this firm, and the people in it, have a history of working with scammers and investing members’ retirement funds in investment scams such as Phillip Nunn’s Blackmore Global and Richard Reinert’s Symphony Fund. So I would take issue with claims like “highly experienced” and “knowledgeable”.

If they were highly experienced and knowledgeable they would have known that, at the time I was being advised by Vilka in January 2015, Aktiva Wealth Management (later changed to Square Mile and now called Michalska Holding) was NOT regulated by the Czech National Bank. According to the CNB records, this didn’t happen until 5th May 2015 and then, only for insurance mediation and not for transferring pensions!

If Integrated Capabilities had been “highly experienced and knowledgeable” then they would have known the Symphony Fund – regulated in their own jurisdiction by their own regulator, the MFSA – was NOT permitted to be offered to me, a retail client. And they knew this because they had the Symphony documentation which clearly prohibited its promotion to UK retail clients.

I complained to the MFSA but they didn’t care and Malta’s “Ombudsman” equivalent – what they call the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services – deters complaints because they have this small print that says if you lose, the other side can be awarded legal costs!

If Integrated Capabilities had been “highly experienced and knowledgeable” they would have known the Blackmore Global fund had never published audited accounts and still hasn’t to this day (December 2018). Something that in January 2015 caused Kreston (pension provider on the Isle of Man) to write to its members explaining their concerns over Blackmore Global and also stopped taking new members from Vilka.

So if they were “highly experienced and knowledgeable” then why did they allow all this to happen? It certainly had nothing to do with “motivation to do their utmost”. It is clear their only motivation was to take on as many members as possible – irrespective of which scammer introduced them and what unsuitable investments were made for them. Also, they claim to have a “long history and proven track record of providing expert and value for money multi-jurisdictional fiduciary solutions, so our clients and partners can have great peace of mind in the knowledge that our board of directors has over 100 years combined expertise in this field.” The proven track record is that they have taken on hundreds of new members per month from a known scammer – and the last thing their members have is peace of mind – far from it.

Angie has referred to these people at Integrated Capabilities/Azure Pensions as a “bunch of cowboys” and their lawyer recently wrote to her and objected to the phrase. You make your own mind up.

How do they earn trust when they have accepted transfers and investment instructions from known unregulated scammers Square Mile and David Vilka? Why would victims “desire” to have a long-term relationship with Azure when funds were previously placed in an unnecessary, expensive insurance bond by Investors Trust in the Cayman Islands (the only purpose for which is to pay commission to the scammers)?

Azure Pensions also claims that one of its partners is Carey Pensions UK LLC. Carey is facing a legal battle for investing a member into unregulated collectives in Australia through a Carey Pensions SIPP.

Carey is in hot water for allowing investments into high-risk scams, and is also now part of STM – undoubtedly the biggest scammers in the offshore pension trust industry. It would seem the Azure team have not learned anything from their previous experience.

If, as they say “We believe that trust is built and earned …”, then you actually have to do some “trust building” with actions – not just weasel words. The indisputable facts seem to indicate “business as usual” but with a different name.

It is highly probable that Integrated Capabilities still has at least 1,100 victims invested in scam funds such as Blackmore Global by scammers such as David Vilka of Square Mile. It looks like most – if not all – of these victims were UK residents who should never have gone into a QROPS at all in the first place. The only reason for transferring these pension funds to a QROPS was to get the money away from UK regulation so that the scammers could invest them in commission-paying UCIS funds – such as Blackmore Global.

The public should be very wary of Azure in the first instance, do a lot of due diligence and make sure their pension funds don’t go anywhere near offshore unregulated collectives wrapped in an assurance bond that can suck your pension dry.

Azure states on their website that: “Notwithstanding your appointment of a Financial Adviser, ICML has an overriding right to refuse to make investments, or to disinvest, where it believes that a particular investment proposal may not be consistent with the Scheme’s Investment Policy or any investment restriction applicable under Retirement Scheme Law.”

Is this a change in policy? Are they going to put their “knowledge and experience” to meaningful use by exercising some due diligence? Is this a statement that means they have sorted the 1,100+ members in the Optimus Scheme that are most likely locked into “investments … not consistent with the Scheme’s … Policy?” Or are these just more weasel words with no substance?

Reformed management team or a “bunch of cowboys”? The jury is still out. The association with Carey & STM doesn’t appear to show a reformed team. What has happened to the 1,100+ members in the previous Optimus Scheme? Has anything been done to remedy the situation?

I believed, and still do, that this team was unwittingly drawn into facilitating a scam by David Vilka of Square Mile, and that in essence Integrated Capabilities/Azure Pensions are a respectable team. However, if they want to be seen as having learned from their past failings they could take some actions. First, help the 1,100+ members to avoid financial ruin and secondly assist in the prosecution of the architects of the scam facilitated by Integrated Capabilities. I am sure they will have a considerable body of evidence that could be used to show fraudulent misrepresentation and thirdly drop the association with companies with an already poor reputation for their involvement with scams or unregulated collectives being promoted to retail clients.

With thanks to Steve – one of the Blackmore Global/David Vilka victims.

November 2, 2018
COSTA SCAM – THE COST OF “ADVICE” IN SPAIN
Sadly, Spain – the leading British expat destination in Europe – is rife with scams and scammers. The Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Costa Brava and everything in between are crawling with what the Spanish regulator calls “chiringuitos” – literally “bar flies”. And you can see why: wherever there is food – whether fresh or rotting – they congregate in large swarms. They are not proud – they will nibble your chips while still on your fork; sip your sangria off your straw; suck the sweat off your shirt and crawl into your underpants to see if there is anything tasty in there.

At least the flies have a little more dignity and respect.

Becoming an expat in Spain is fraught with difficulty. First, you have to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road, then you have to learn Spanish – or Valenciano or Catalan (you can see why so few Brits bother). Then you have to come to terms with the heat: long, hot summers with temperatures well up into the 30s and 40s are fine if all you have to do is lounge beside the pool, drink beer and plan your next outing to the local chippy. But if you are working, being too hot all day is no fun.

Many Brits are naturally suspicious of the Spanish and seek out British professionals whenever they can: builders, plumbers, pool maintainers, car mechanics and manicurists. And you can understand why – most Brits can barely manage things like “my loo won’t flush”, “the pool’s turned green”, “our car won’t start (or stop)” and “I want nails like Kim Kardashian”. So when it comes to “how do I invest my life savings” they don’t really stand a chance.

The problem is that most Brits in Spain are outside their comfort zone. They are in a foreign country and so they cosy up to other Brits because that makes them feel safe – and they don’t quite trust the natives anyway. Quite apart from the language barrier, Spanish bureaucracy can seem somewhat intimidating and, well, foreign. So when it comes to managing their life savings and retirement provisions, the Brits either actively seek out British advisory firms or feel relieved and happy when they are cold-called by them.

There’s no shortage of “advisers” – they lurk everywhere: bars, supermarkets, golf and sailing clubs. They are typically charming, well-dressed, friendly and fall over themselves to sell financial advice or what they call “wealth management”. Only that isn’t what they are selling: they are actually selling products. These products are basically insurance bonds (that you don’t need) and investments (that you don’t want). And huge fees for selling you things that you neither need nor want.

With appealing adverts and websites showing happy, good-looking couples with nice teeth, expensive yachts and fast cars. These chiringuitos sell the idea that somehow they can make people wealthy and happy in retirement.

The reality is that the chiringuitos make themselves rich by fleecing their victims and destroying their funds.

Before the industry cries “unfair, unfair!!”, let me just mention a couple of examples that prove my point:

Premier Pension Solutions (Costa Blanca) – Ark £27 million; Evergreen £10 million; Capita Oak £10 million; London Quantum £3 million

Continental Wealth Management (Costa Blanca) – £100 million

That’s at least a couple of thousand people financially ruined. There are plenty more examples:

* How rogue ‘financial advisers’ in Spain stung British pensioners for millions

* Shocking Expat Financial Scams – Don’t Become A Victim

* British expats, your financial adviser may well be a bandit

* Spain still hub for expat financial fraud

There’s quite a wide spectrum – ranging from out and out scammers like Premier Pension Solutions and Continental Wealth Management, to firms that are just plain dodgy, expensive, dishonest and irresponsible. You may ask what the difference is: in practice NONE. Both ends of the spectrum cause damage to the funds – and distress to the victims.

Let’s look at the reality and examine what many advisory firms (chiringuitos) do and don’t do. We will take the don’ts first:
- they don’t disclose all the fees up front
- they don’t disclose how much commission they will earn from your funds
- they don’t respect your risk profile – and can invest you in high-risk stuff when you are a low-risk investor
- they don’t tell you when the answer to the question “do I need a QROPS” is “no”
- they don’t respect the basic principles of diversity, risk, liquidity and cost
- they don’t disclose whether the firm is regulated
- they don’t disclose whether they are qualified
and now what they do:
- they transfer your pension into a QROPS whether that is in your interests or not
- they put your funds into an insurance bond even though you don’t need one
- they invest you in what they have already decided they want to sell you – irrespective of whether that is what you need
- they churn your investments to maximise their commissions
- they lie about your losses (only “paper” losses)
- they stick you in an expensive insurance bond which will cost you a fortune to get out of
There are, of course, multiple variations on this theme – including things like flogging you whatever fund pays them the most commission that month; flogging you their own fund; flogging you your own grandmother – twice. They flog funds with entry fees, exit fees, ongoing fees and lousy performance. Basically, these advisers have no interest in keeping their clients long term – they are only interested in the initial fees. Once the client realised they have been fleeced, he can take his business elsewhere – unless the firm is Blevins Franks, in which case the victim is stuck with them.

I am often asked the question: “are there any firms you can recommend which won’t rip me off?”. The answer to this question is a resounding “maybe”.

There are a few I can categorically recommend against:

Callaghan Financial Services – unregulated

Blevins Franks – unscrupulous

Abbey Wealth – unregulated and unscrupulous

Seagate Wealth – unmentionable
October 21, 2018
RUSSELL UP CLIENTS FOR BLEVINS FRANKS

Watch out – Blevins Franks will probably sell you a pup if you’re not careful!

Blevins Franks – a so-called financial advisory firm in Spain and other places around the Med – might (hopefully) offer me a job. I quite fancy trying my hand at being a financial adviser, so I’m practicing cheesy smiles and earnest but friendly poses. Over the weekend I’m going to rehearse some elevator pitches and killer closing offers for my interview with Blevins Franks:

“Any fund you like – as long as its a Russell fund”

“Shall I Russell up some coffee while you browse through our catalog of funds (it won’t take you long – we only sell one fund!)”

“Autumn is my favourite time of year – I just love the Russell of fallen leaves”

“I adore your Jack Russell (the one that slobbered on my new trousers) – I might just Russell him on my way out”

While I’m on a roll, I might try a real joke or two:

“What do you call a man under a pile of leaves? Russell! What do you call a man under a pile of leaves for a thousand years? Pete!”

(I just hope my prospective clients aren’t called Russell and Pete).

I’m sure I’ll be able to think up plenty more jolly quips, and I reckon I’ll soon have dozens of potential clients eating out of my hand and desperate for the chance to invest their life savings in Russell funds. The only thing I’m not sure of, is how to sell them on the concept of going into a Lombard bond. What do I say the benefits are? Of course, I know what the benefits are to me: I will earn 8% commission – but what line do I spin the client?

* It will give you capital protection (by protecting your capital from growing too fat)

* It will give you the best and widest selection of funds (as long as they start with a Rus and end with a Sell)

* It will help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines (and growth)

* It will pay me lots of commission (oops – better not say that!)

I’m going to do some homework before my interview so I know the Russell funds inside out – so over to good ol’ Morningstar.

Let’s start with the Russell Real Assets Fund. I won’t mention that it is down 3.8% this year (2018) or that it is performing way below the benchmark, but I will stress that this fund is a bargain at just 3% to buy into and a mere 2.01% a year ongoing. (Probably best not to mention that if somebody bought it direct they could get it for free and pay only 1.26% a year).

Then I’ll move on to the Russell Openworld Global High Dividend Equity Fund (better stay sober to get that one right) – a steal at only 5% to buy into and 2.02% a year once you’re in. Then, just to show I know what I’m talking about, I’ll give ’em the killer Russell Asia Pacific Ex Japan Fund – another steal at 5% to get in, and 2.8 a year to stay in. I won’t mention that both these funds are half the price if you buy them direct – because this is after all about my commission and not about trying to sell them something cheap or suitable.

If I really want to impress my prospective victims, I could go on and on: “Russell Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Russel US Equity Fund, Russell Global Real Estate Securities Fund….”. I could even invent some of my own: “Russell Falling Leaves Fund, Russell Falling Value Fund, Russell Falling For It Fund…”

The best thing about working for Blevins Franks, of course, is that you get paid twice: once for flogging the Lombard bond, and then again for flogging the Russell fund – a “double hussle” (or even a “Russell hussle”!). I can’t wait.

But what, you may ask, if Russell and Pete suss out that I’ve conned them after they see their funds stuck in this useless, pointless, expensive bond and realise they could have bought the Russell funds way cheaper elsewhere – or could have just bought better funds to start with? The answer is simple – just listen to my favourite song: Hotel California by The Eagles: “You can check out any time, but you can never leave”.

You see, clients in Spain don’t realise that when they get conned into a Lombard Insurance Bond they have to stay with Blevins Franks no matter how badly the funds inside the bond perform? No other IFA in Spain is allowed to take over managing the funds if an investor is not satisfied with Blevins Franks. So Russell and Pete will be stuck with me forever – unless they fancy paying a huge exit penalty (so it will cost them a fortune to get rid of me!).

Never mind treating customers fairly – we’ll lock them into a cripplingly-expensive insurance bond which is illegal in Spain and fleece them with expensive, poor-performing funds they could buy way cheaper anywhere else. And Russell and Pete can do nothing about it.

In the words of the best band in the world: “On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, I was thinking to myself this could be heaven and this could be hell, such a lovely place to listen to the Russell of crumpled pound notes….”

Just goes to show, even with a load of qualified advisers, victims can still get scammed.

October 19, 2018
Belgravia Wealth – qualified and registered?
Back due to popular demand, qualified and registered company blogs. Today, I am looking into Belgravia Wealth, a Swiss based company. Belgravia Wealth – qualified and registered? Lets see if you are.

Belgravia Wealth has an impressive list of services offered. However, those who follow our blogs will know that the terms “structured products” and pensions together, makes us shudder with horror. We have seen so many pensions ruined by being invested in high-risk, fixed-term, for-professional- investor-only structured products.

Whilst I have a queue of trolls telling me that structured notes are “not all that bad”, take a look at this video we created about John Rodgers and the ´blue chip notes´ that destroyed his pension fund. He was a victim of a pension scam courtesy of Continental Wealth Management, which affected around 1,000 members.

What Belgravia say on their website:

“Belgravia Wealth Management is a Swiss-established and regulated company founded to fill the advice gap that currently exists between the retail financial companies and the services available to the UHNW clients. As an independent company, we ensure that you benefit from impartial advice and access to offerings from all the financial providers available in the market.”

It is great to read that Belgravia Wealth is regulated. Many firms I have written about fail to meet this simple – but essential – requirement. They claim to be independent and suggest that their advice is impartial. I wonder, though, with all this transparency in their blurb – are their staff qualified and registered to give this “impartial” advice?

Whilst their website offers a tab entitled “Careers”, it does not offer a list of staff that actually work for Belgravia Wealth. So, over to Linkedin to see if Belgravia Wealth staff advertise their employment with the company.

As with all these blogs, we only go by the information we can find, which is the same information potential clients would be able to access.

IFAs and their clients are invited to add to this blog, correct it, improve it. We will gladly edit our information if proof of qualification certificates can be supplied. Here’s a link to the three registers if you want to double check for yourself:

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
1. Spencer Freeman-Haynes – Director Zurich and Basel region at Belgravia Wealth Management – claims CISI – DOES not appear on the register
2. Emmanuel Obi, Jr. LL.M – Head of Compliance – Switzerland at Belgravia Wealth Management – no financial qualifications claimed (but how can he oversee the compliance function if he isn’t qualified?)
3. Mark Saunders – Regional Manager – Geneva Area, Switzerland – lists various CII qualifications – DOES NOT appear on the register
4. Ian Crompton – Director at Belgravia Wealth Management SARL – Claims CISI – DOES NOT appear on the register
5. Euan Cameron – Belgravia Wealth Management – Basel Area, Switzerland – No financial qualifications claimed
6. Mystery Man (I do not have access to the profile) – Manager of Business Development – Belgravia Wealth Management – without a name I can not check his qualifications
Belgravia Wealth Switzerland has 6 members of staff listed as working for them, and from what I can tell NONE of them are qualified or registered to give financial advice.

Belgravia Wealth- qualified and registered 0%
October 16, 2018
Transparency Failure With Flying Colours
The financial services industry has failed with flying colours to achieve transparency – both offshore and in the UK. The single most important thing about any product or service is transparency – aka honesty. This is where the profession has tolerated – and even encouraged – bare-faced lying for years and continues to do so today.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with overcharging – as long as the overcharger makes it clear he is openly trying to rip his customers off and the victim is consciously happy to be ripped off. Personally, I’d love to be able to sell my car for 25,000 EUR – but with its age, condition and mileage I know I’d struggle to get 5,000. However, a crafty, clever person could give it a makeover, a clockover, tell a few convincing porky pies – and some poor fool might pay over the odds for it.

Most of the victims I deal with tell me the same story:
- the adviser said the “review” would be free
- the adviser said the only charge I would pay would be 1.5% a year
- the adviser said my fund would grow at 8% a year net of charges
- the adviser never told me about the insurance bond
- the adviser never told me he was going to invest my funds in high-risk, illiquid funds or structured notes
Most people describe their offshore adviser as being about as transparent as a pork chop and the “flying colours” of their achievements to be fifty shades of brown.

Champion campaigner against this sort of dishonesty is international king of transparency Andy Agathangelou – Founding Chair of the Transparency Task Force, the collaborative, campaigning community dedicated to driving up levels of transparency in financial services around the world. Andy writes for Investment Week and calls for total transparency from offshore advisory firms.

One of Andy’s key statements is: “the financial services industry as a whole has a moral, ethical and professional duty to behave transparently”. But I wonder if that is a bit like asking for World peace, an end to pollution, a cure for cancer or a reversal of global warming (and a solution to the Brexit problem).

In the UK, advisers are not allowed to charge commissions on the products they sell, meaning that they will (hopefully) choose the best investment for their client – as there is no financial incentive to chose one product over another. However, offshore advisers do not have these restrictions, meaning that when they are selling an investment they will inevitably choose the one that pays the most commission.

But are things really that squeaky clean in the UK? Does the “beady” eye of the FCA have any effect or is it merely a masking mechanism to cloak lack of transparency (aka lying) in a thin veneer of false security? Henry Tapper’s recent blog on the subject of the FCA’s investigation into 34 firms suspected of non-disclosure of investment charges reports:

34 firms under investigation by FCA for non-disclosure of investment charges

and quotes SCM Direct as saying “Its time for the chief executive of the FCA, Andrew Bailey, to demonstrate that he is willing to be the industry enforcer rather than the industry lapdog.”

One example was cited: Canaccord Genuity claimed its annual management fee was 1.25% plus a transaction commission of £30. But it turned out the 1.25% was just the beginning – then there were VAT and fund charges bringing the true cost nearer to 2.75%. Now, I know we women sometimes stretch the truth when it comes to our age, weight or clothes size – but Canaccord’s porky pie was that the real charges were actually twice what was claimed. That’s not just lack of transparency – that is naked dishonesty.

I had a browse through Canaccord’s funds and got bewildered by the range of costs – the annual charges seemed to range from 2.1% up to a whopping 4.34%. I’m just wondering whether an investor prepared to pay 4.34% for one of these funds might like to buy my car as well? After all, if they can throw their money away so easily, they surely can’t be bright enough to realise my rusty old heap isn’t worth 25k.

While I was in a browsing mood, I thought I’d have a wee look at Flying Colours. The company aims to provide super low-cost advice and investment funds and “negate the hidden costs in the market”. The website claims “I’m building a network of independent financial advisers with a shared vision – to improve the returns of UK investors. Join us.” But now I’ve got alarm bells ringing: a network? And who exactly is in the network?

A list of firms scattered across England from Bristol and Godalming to Liverpool and Skelmersdale – plus a few one-man bands. But they all claim to be “independent” financial advisers. How can they be independent if they are tied agents of Flying Colours? We are back to the “Wild West” offshore culture where members of a network are effectively “feral” and get up to all sorts of mischief due to lack of independence. And let us not forget that tied agents are illegal in Spain – and for good reason because the Spanish government knows that advisers simply cannot be independent if they are tied to one provider.

The Flying Colours network includes All Things Financial, Arch Financial Planning, CBG Financial Planning, Cullen Wealth Management, E-Crunch, Fit Financial Services, JAV Financial Planning, JBD Financial Planning, JRF Financial Planning, Lavelle Financial Services, Layfield Wealth Management, Mathew Burrows Financial Planning, NTW Financial Planning, Pepperells Wealth, S Fox Wealth Management, Sterling Financial Planning, The Royall Wealth Partnership and Tyrone Peters Financial Planning.

But how on earth does a coherent and effective compliance function work with 18 different firms scattered all across the country? (All of which are lying about their independence).

The Flying Colours website boasts: “We’re transparent about the charges you’ll pay for advice and investments. And there’ll be no hidden fees, ever.” But where are the fees and charges? I searched the whole website but couldn’t find out what they were. Because they were hidden.

Flying Colours recently made an ill-fated, abortive attempt to enter the offshore market (leaving considerable embarrassment and expense in its wake). Far from the claim of “starting strong relationships with a cultural fit and starting friendships“, Flying Colours ended up dumping the failure and retreating to UK-based “DIY” advice. Once Flying Colours’ offshore mess is cleared up, there will – no doubt – be a sigh of relief since Flying Colours was actually offering a more expensive version of the “cheap” investment advice process at 2% for investors with complex investments (so back to the same old, same old offshore “sophisticated” confidence trick).

What is there in Britain to protect consumers from lies; scams; lack of independence and transparency; weak compliance and unworkable investment offerings? Forget the FCA – they are permanently on a coffee break.

But what about the Insolvency Service? Isn’t that there to help protect victims from investment scams? More than a year ago, the IS commenced winding up proceedings against Store First for selling store pods to rogue SIPPS providers such as Berkeley Burke, Carey Pensions, Rowanmoor Pensions, London & Colonial and Stadia Trustees. So, we have thousands of victims of pension and investment fraud all left hanging – not knowing whether their investments are worthless or not. And this, of course, includes the Capita Oak and Henley scheme victims.

The lack of transparency about the store pods was, arguably, not the fault of Store First itself, but caused by the lies of the rogue promoters and “advisers” and the negligence of the SIPPS providers. A store pod is a great investment if the investor has a burning desire to invest in an illiquid, speculative asset – with the added benefit that he can also put his granny’s knick-knacks in there free of charge. While any honest adviser would have told the investors to invest their life savings in a low-cost, liquid, prudent fund – and any competent pension trustee or administrator would have refused to accept store pods as pension investments – the fact is that the backhanders set aside any common sense entirely.

Personally, I think the UK has a long way to go before it can claim to be entirely transparent. To get there, some sort of regulator would be helpful (forget the FCA – obviously) and an effective insolvency service would contribute to achieving meaningful reform. But while firms are still lying, obfuscating and cheating, we can’t really say that pension and investment scams only happen offshore. They are still very much on our doorstep.

Andy Agathangelou’s important work addresses many of the ills which blight offshore financial services. But he could do with a team of several hundred helpers to cover all the key expat jurisdictions. Offshore advisers – as well as UK-based firms – need to be 100% committed to their clients and take into consideration the future of the investments they make. They need to give their clients total transparency, not just on the commissions that will be applied but also on all other fees and charges.

Total transparency on all fees and commissions, before any transfers are made, would mean investors know exactly what they are getting into. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is needed from day one! But it would also be exceedingly helpful if ALL UK-based advisers and fund managers adhered to this model.

Going back to Canaccord Genuity’s opacity in the case of a client with a £700k portfolio, their non-disclosure of the VAT charges alone led to an additional cost of £10,500. £10,500 over 10 years amounts to £105,000 – quite a sizable chunk of the fund. You would have to have some very good investments to cover these costs AND increase the amount of the fund. Which, of course, is (or ought to be) the main aim of an investment!

Just for a laugh, have a look on Canaccord´s website at their list of fees, in particular, their cautious fund. 4.34% a year in charges. I wondered if this included VAT (being a “cautious” investor!).

So I decided I´d give them a call, just to clear up the confusion.

I was passed around various departments and ended up talking to a woman, who was – to put it plainly – pretty unhelpful. I asked about the charges and was told I would need to talk to a fund manager. I was asked how much I wanted to invest. I replied I´d need more information before I could commit to an amount. I was told there was a minimum investment of £250,00, but she still couldn´t tell me about the fees and charges.

I was put on hold, after she implied she might find out the answers to my questions. However, she must have forgotten me as no one came back and I was simply left hanging – listening to the sound of silence. Hopefully, Canaccord won’t forget me in the future.

Mind you, I didn’t have much luck with Flying Colours either. I chatted to their online “can I help you?” chap, Stephen Murphy, and asked him what the fund and advisory charges were. Murphy wanted to know why I wanted to know. I explained I was writing an article on Flying Colours’ fees. His reply was: “In regards to you writing an article around fund charges – we are not interested in featuring in an article as you are based in Spain – however, if you need further information around this you could contact Dani Greenfield on dgreenfield@flyingcolourswealth.com – she deals with the marketing side of our business.” Why so secretive I wonder?

Offshore advisers should be forced to put labels like these on their investments!

All this leaves us with a number of pressing, unanswered questions:
- Is it acceptable that the financial services industry has failed with flying colours?
- Is it tolerable that in some ways it is as bad in the UK as it is offshore?
- Should consumers continue to tolerate unacceptably high charges from providers?
- Would anybody like to buy my car for 25,000 EUR?
October 14, 2018
Unqualified pension scammers banned

Unqualified Pension Scammers Banned

Articles like New Model Adviser’s report on some of the scammers behind the Capita Oak/Henley/Store First scam getting banned always makes me smile. Knowing that a few pension scammers (four in this case), are being named and shamed – as well as banned from being directors – motivates me to share information about these evil scams with the public.

Directors handed 34-year ban for £57m cold call pension transfers

Citywire stated:

“An investigation led by the Insolvency Service revealed the directors were connected with Transeuro Worldwide Holdings, which helped fund two introducer firms Sycamore Crown and Jackson Francis. The firms were involved in the transfer of £57 million of pension savings.

Sycamore Crown director Stuart Greehan agreed to a nine-year voluntary ban as a result of false and misleading statements to encourage investors to transfer their pensions.

Karl Dunlop, director of Imperial Trustee Services, and Ian Dunsford, director of Omni Trustees, agreed to bans of nine and seven years, respectively, for failing to act in the best interests of members and ‘failing to ensure investments were adequately diverse’.

While not a formally appointed director of Transeuro Worldwide Holdings, Mike Talbot (AKA Stephen Talbot) accepted a nine-year disqualification undertaking for failing to disclose what happened to the millions of pounds of pension assets.”

BUT, IN ADDITION TO THESE EVIL SCAMMERS, THERE WERE OTHER PLAYERS IN THIS APPALLING TRAGEDY AND THEY WERE NOT MENTIONED. SO HERE ARE THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO PLAYED LEADING PARTS IN THIS FOUL PLAY:

Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions SL and Premier Pension Transfers Ltd – he handled the transfer administration from the original (ceding) pension providers. He was, apparently, paid £300 per Capita Oak transfer – and would have known that he was condemning each member to certain loss of his or her pension.

XXXX XXXX of Nationwide Benefit Consultants, The Pension Reporter, Victory Asset Management and Tourbillon, was clearly the “controlling mind” behind Capita Oak. He also ran the Thurlstone loan scheme which paid 5% in cash to the Capita Oak victims as a “bonus” or “thank you”. HMRC is now taxing these payments at 55% as they qualify as unauthorised payments. XXXX XXXX then went on to launch the successful Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund scam which saw over 400 victims lose their pensions to high-risk toxic loans to Dolphin Trust in an STM Fidecs Gibraltar QROPS. XXXX – as with most pension scammers – subsequently ignores the plight of the victims when the schemes eventually and inevitably collapse. XXXX is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and was also responsible for the Westminster pension scam.

Mark Manley of Manleys Solicitors – acting for XXXX XXXX.

Stuart Chapman-Clarke, Christopher Payne, Ben Fox, Bill Perkins, Alan Fowler, Karen Burton, Tom Biggar, Sarah Duffell, Jason Holmes, Metis Law Solicitors, Roger Chant, Brian Downs, Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh all played further prominent roles in this series of scams and profited to a greater or lesser degree.

It is believed that cold calling techniques were used to lure unsuspecting victims into this series of unregulated investment scams. Victims’ pension savings were transferred into bogus occupational pension schemes whose trustees/administrators were Omni Trustees and Imperial Trustee Services. The schemes were Henley Retirement Benefit Scheme (HRBS) and Capita Oak Pension Scheme (COPS). But the scammers also used a variety of SIPPS which included Berkeley Burke, Careys Pensions, Rowanmoor, London and Colonial and Stadia Trustees.

As is often the case in scams like these, the victims were lured in with promises of so-called guaranteed high returns by spivs masquerading as advisers, who were also unqualified and unregulated to give financial advice.

The unqualified advisers were able to transfer millions of pounds’ worth of pension savings into these schemes which included investments in unregulated storage units and over £10 million into COPS (Capita Oak) and over £8 million into HRBS (Henley). The promised high returns were never paid to the investors – but handed over to the scammers instead. The pension funds are now suspended with the funds trapped in these illiquid investments.

The company directors have received a total ban of 34 years collectively. Here at Pension Life we would have liked to have seen lifetime bans all round.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is now moving forward with their investigations against Omni and Imperial. They urge people who are members of HRBS (Henley) and COPS (Capita Oak) to contribute to criminal evidence against the scammers via a questionnaire.

As always, the team at Pension Life urges pension holders to be wary of pension scammers. Never accept a cold call offer, be aware that scammers lurk everywhere and if it seems to good to be true it probably is!

If in doubt just walk away!

October 10, 2018
Nitwit or Dragonfly? Gambling or Investing?

Nitwit or Dragonfly? Gambling or Investing? Are investment losses as a result of a bad adviser or a bad investment? Or both? The real question is: how does the consumer tell the difference? A favourite episode of Fawlty Towers involved Basil’s ill-fated bet on a racehorse called Dragonfly. Confusion sets in – fuelled by the easily-confused Manuel – and “Dragonfly” gets muddled up with “Nitwit”. And that is how clients get confused just as easily: by advisers who spout the usual rubbish: capital protected; guaranteed returns; blue-chip investments; solid providers etc. They just leave out the three most important things: the fat commissions paid to the adviser; the high-risk nature of the “investment” and the fact that structured notes are FOR PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY (and not for retail investors).

Equally befuddled – but much less funny – this past few days, has been a bunch of nitwits posing as financial experts on Linkedin. Almost as barmy as Basil and Manuel, these comedians don’t know the difference between investing and gambling. Graham Bentley of a firm called gbi2 has been suggesting that structured notes should be revisited as viable “investments” for valued clients.

Bentley has suggested that structured products are an option that advisers could consider including in their portfolio of investment solutions. If he is talking about outright scammers, then – of course – he is right. Structured products pay juicy commissions of up to 8%, so naturally they are a favoured product for these criminals to sell. Plus, if the clients themselves have so much money they are desperate to get rid of as much of it as possible, as quickly as possible, then structured products are ideal.

But Bentley is missing the point entirely. Structured products have, for years, been sold enthusiastically and aggressively by the usual suspects: Leonteq, Nomura, Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada and BNP Paribas; bought by scammers such as Continental Wealth Management for the juicy commissions; harboured by crooked life offices such as Old Mutual International. And the result has been huge losses for hundreds of victims. In some cases, total destruction of a victim’s life savings.

Most advisers who sell these toxic products are too thick to understand how they work – and indeed anything beyond the amount of commission they earn out of flogging them is way too tricky to get their simple minds around. And why should they even bother? They just sell them, collect their 8% and then move on to the next victim. What’s to understand? They know that life offices love them – and indeed Old Mutual International bought £94 million worth of the fraudulent Leonteq ones alone. It is a delightful circle for all concerned: the scammers get rich, the bent life offices get fat and the structured product providers do very nicely thank you. And not a single one of them gives a second thought for the victims.

One cheerful idiot on the Linkedin thread has enthusiastically supported Bentley’s idiotic view:

Mark Coomber, Chartered MCSI Independent Financial Planner at Plutus Wealth Management

“Continue to use structured products (as part of portfolios) both personally and for clients with great success. Most of the negative comments I read about them are born out of ignorance and sheer laziness of some advisers who cannot be bothered to either learn the topic matter or undertake the relevant due diligence.”

And this guy is chartered! As a member of the CISI he should know better than to spout such rubbish – and I feel deeply sorry for any clients of Plutus Wealth Management as they are clearly in danger of being sold these toxic products. In fact, I would go further and suggest the public should be warned about the dangers of using this firm, as Coomber clearly has every intention of flogging his victims these high-risk products. If he is stupid enough to use them for his own gambling fun, good luck to him. But he has no right to inflict them on retail clients.

One of the fraudulent structured notes sold by Leonteq (for 8% commissions to the scammers) was:

Capital Protection on WTI Crude Oil with a Reference Bond (PDVSA)
100.00% Contingent Capital Protection | Credit Risk of Reference Bond Issuer | 5.00% p.a. Guaranteed
Coupon | 6.00% p.a. Conditional Coupon
ISIN CH0234862669 | Swiss Security Number 23486266
Final Fixing Date 20/03/2019

The term sheet did, to be fair, give a clear warning:

“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.”

Sadly, we have to wait until March 2019 to find out how many victims have lost their shirts on this particular lame horse.

And this is the problem: most advisers don’t understand structured products themselves – all they understand (and care about) is the fat commission. They certainly don’t care that the products are fraudulent. But, more importantly, none of these rogue advisers’ clients are experienced investors. If they were, they wouldn’t be paying a greedy and irresponsible financial adviser to risk their hard-earned life savings for them.

STRUCTURED NOTES ARE GAMBLING – NOT INVESTING!

So my message to Coomber and Bentley is this: read Leonteq’s term sheet:

“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.” And then try to decide which horse is going to win: Dragonfly or Nitwit.

October 3, 2018
Cartoon blog – Don’t be the next pension scam victim

Written by Kim

All pension and investment scams have one thing in common: if the pension scam victims had asked the offshore advisers some or all of these 10 essential questions, they might not have lost their life savings to the scammers.

Here at Pension Life, we are working hard to help educate the masses and stop pension scammers in their tracks worldwide. By arming and informing the public, and teaching them how to spot the scammers and avoid being scammed, we can help put a stop to these crimes.

With the scammers outsmarted, there will hopefully be fewer pension scam victims!

We have put together this cartoon which provides you, the investor, with 10 essential questions to ask your offshore adviser before you sign your precious pension fund over. Knowing what questions to ask could mean you do not become the next pension scam victim.

1. Pension Life has covered what qualifications your adviser needs to give pension advice. The adviser should also be able to show you their certificates and be registered with the governing body that awarded them – typically CII or CISI qualifications. We have created a series of blogs “firm name – qualified and registered?” which cover many offshore advisory firms and their team members. They show the firms that list employees who claim qualifications but are not registered and have failed to supplied proof and which firms are transparent. Some firms are happy to work with us and be 100% transparent and demonstrate that their team of advisers are fully qualified and registered.

2. Many offshore companies are regulated with an insurance licence ONLY and this is not sufficient to give pension and investment advice. They must have a licence to give advice on pensions and investments.

3. We have seen many companies with flash websites posing as financial advisory firms. Their spiel gives the impression they are a large company, but when you dig deeper you find they are a one-man band like the Imperius Group, and often unqualified AND unregulated like Callaghan QROPS.

4. Insurance bonds are an expensive and unnecessary double wrapper on your pension. If it has already been invested in a SIPPS or a QROPS, insurance bonds are not needed. Insurance bonds are another way for the scammers to skim more commissions from your fund, putting a dent in your start and end value. Life offices such as Old Mutual International, Generali and RL360 are among the firms (known as life offices) to be avoided.

5. Structured note providers such as Leonteq, Nomura, Royal Bank of Canada and Commerzbank should be avoided. These companies are linked to previous pension scams and many victims have seen their pension funds destroyed with these high-risk, fixed-term notes, that are totally unsuitable for a pension fund. Often these structured notes have high commissions that make the ‘adviser’ big bucks.

6. Holding a DB pension puts you in good stead for your retirement. With a pension fund like this you are often better to ‘just do nothing’ and leave it as it is. Transferring it can lead to heavy charges and fees, meaning your fund becomes worth much less than before.

7. A pension is classed as a retail investment and needs to be invested in low to medium risk investments with a steady increase in value. Offers of high returns, especially in investments that use words like “renewable energies” or “property”, are illiquid and high risk. These types of investments are not safe for your pension. An example of this is the Elysian bio-fuels pension scam, facilitated by James Hay and Dolphin Trust – a German housing investment scheme – promoted to British steelworkers.

8. Time and time again, we see pension scam victims receiving the paperwork on the pension transfer ‘deal’ they have signed, only to realise that large fees and charges have been applied. The scammers are experts at hiding the charges and often quote the term: ‘free pension review’. Whilst they do not charge for all their visits and advice before you sign on the dotted line, they make up for this in transfer fees, commissions and often quarterly charges too! The quarterly charges will be applied no matter how your fund is doing. We have seen pension scam victims´ funds end up in negative equity due to being placed into an inappropriate fund which causes losses and second, continuing fees being applied. (Fees are normally based on the start value of the fund).

9. With the technology we have today, like smart phone apps, many firms are offering instant access to the progress of your pension fund through their own app. Options exist to add funds or change your investments and total transparency of investments and progress; a company that offers this service is Pension Bee. You should also get quarterly statements and annual reviews so you can track the progress of your fund.

10. We have seen pension scam victims repeatedly contacting their so-called advisers to try to get information on the demise of their fund, only to meet dead end after dead end. Again, ensure you are using a fully licensed firm that has an admin, compliance and support team. Ensure you are able to get a set of contact details (if not two!) and that there is a ‘real’ address and a landline – scammers often use PO boxes and mobile numbers.

Remember, it is your pension and your investment; you are entitled to ask as many questions as you like. These essential questions to ask offshore advisers should be simple for any trustworthy and transparent adviser to answer quickly and effortlessly. If your adviser is in any way cagey, vague or tries to avoid the question altogether, just walk away. An adviser who is unwilling to be totally transparent could well be a scammer.

Don’t be the next pension scam victim – wise up!

October 2, 2018