Tag: QROPS

  • INTERNATIONAL ADVISER’S GLOBAL FINANCIAL SERVICES AWARDS 2025 By Gary Robinson

    INTERNATIONAL ADVISER’S GLOBAL FINANCIAL SERVICES AWARDS 2025 By Gary Robinson

    Gary Robinson of International Adviser celebrates global undisclosed commissions on June 25th 2025.

    Gary Robinson,  journalist and filmmaker, now heads up International Adviser. IA poses as a financial services news magazine. In reality, it is a rag for promoting the products of the life offices (more accurately known as death offices) such as Utmost International, RL360, Hansard and Investors Trust. This enriches the commission-hungry firms – such as DeVere, Guardian Wealth Management, Holborn Assets and Mondial in Dubai.  (See victims’ reviews below).

    Gary Robinson, also MD of Money Map Media, pictured above promoting Nigel Green of DeVere, claims:

    “Really exciting to bring back the IA Global Financial Services Awards 2025 where the shortlist is solely decided by our advisers, brokers and wealth managers.”

    Death Office Quilter - now Utmost - set to win awards for misrepresentation and undisclosed commissions.
    Death Office Quilter – now Utmost – set to win awards for misrepresentation and undisclosed commissions.

    But Gary’s “excitement” is disingenuous as he knows full well that the advisers, brokers and wealth managers are at the receiving end of the fraudulently-concealed commission machine operated by the death offices. This leads to sales of inappropriate and risky investment products. And the word “adviser” is grossly misleading as the majority of the firms don’t sell advice – they sell products for fat and destructive commissions.

    Gary’s predecessor was Kirsten Hastings.  In 2020, Hastings handed out awards to her paymasters to rapturous canned applause:

    “And the winner of international life group non-UK is Quilter International. Congratulations!”

    “And the winner of International Portfolio Bond is Quilter International.  Congratulations!!”

    “And the winner of Digital Proposition is Quilter International. Congratulations!!!

    Hastings said that Quilter had been “overwhelmingly nominated by the advisers”.  Hardly surprising since that’s where their juicy, fraudulent commissions come from.

    Kirsten Hastings of International Adviser gushing over Quilter International (now Utmost International).

    These undisclosed commissions come in two layers: 7% or 8% on the portfolio bond itself.  Then commissions of up to 19% or more on the toxic, high-risk assets on the investment platforms provided by the death offices. So the “advice” to get sucked into these products is certainly not “independent”.

    Five years later, the 2025 IA awards not only target the death offices but also the rogue jurisdictions which act as enthusiastic incubators for so much international financial crime.  IA Nominations for International Financial Centre of the Year include:

    Hong Kong, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. 

    All of which have harboured fraud, negligence and mis selling – with little or no intervention by the regulators.  

    Hong Kong is not as popular among fraudsters as Malta, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man.  However, in 2014 a group of conmen in Hong Kong – including Neil Masters, Michael Foggo, Mark Wearmouth and Chris Beale – launched the GFS Superannuation Scheme 2 occupational pension.  They then operated a multi-million-pound investment fraud in partnership with Czech broker Planet Pensions (aka Aktiva and Square Mile). 

    Neil Masters - Mastering the art of investment fraud.
    Neil Masters – Mastering the art of investment fraud.

    Hundreds of UK-residents were then conned into transferring their pensions to GFS in Hong Kong.  They lost everything in toxic, unregulated, high-commission investments.  Convicted criminals Mark Donnelly and Gordon Couch of Brite Advisors then tried to take over the scheme using Donnelly’s Hong Kong company Tribune – set up jointly with Nigel Green of DeVere.  Donnelly then bought Planet Pensions for £650,000 using money stolen from his Brite Advisors clients.

    The Hong Kong regulator did at least deregister the scheme when it realised it had been used for investment fraud – but then took no criminal action against the perpetrators.

    Guernsey and Jersey have also been involved with various investment scams over the past decade.  These include the 💲100 million unregulated collective investment EEA Life Settlements scam based in Guernsey and the £40 million Privilege Wealth payday loans swindle used as 100% investments in pension portfolios in Jersey.

    The Isle of Man hosts some of the World’s worst facilitators of fraud – including Hansard, Utmost, Quilter, Friends Provident International and RL360.  These firms have been responsible for the destruction of billions of pounds of life savings and are currently standing trial in the Isle of Man for misrepresentation and undisclosed commissions in two claims for £400 million worth of losses for hundreds of victims.  And these death offices have for many years paid millions of pounds in secret commissions to the worst of the commission-driven “advice” industry.  

    Hopefully Gary Robinson will give the audience, at the awards ceremony on 25th June, details of the crippling losses caused by Friends Provident International and Quilter International (now Utmost).

    The IA Award nominations for best international pension provider include Momentum Pensions in Malta.  This is astonishing as Momentum has the most Arbiter complaints of all the QROPS providers in this ineptly-regulated and corrupt jurisdiction.  The Malta Arbiter’s website clearly contains details of nearly 100 serious complaints against Momentum – most of which were upheld.  The Arbiter found that Momentum had failed to comply with the Malta financial services regulations and to have failed in its fiduciary duty to the scheme members.  And yet still the Malta regulator – despite the Malta Arbiter’s damning condemnation – has still not shut down Momentum (or STM for that matter – which came a shameful second to Momentum).

    Momentum Pensions had allowed millions of pounds’ worth of investments in toxic, high-risk structured notes by unregulated Spanish firm CWM.  Most of these failed, wiping out hundreds of members’ pensions.   The sole director of CWM has recently been convicted of fraud and sentenced to four years in prison.

    Momentum Pensions was not the only QROPS provider in Malta to facilitate investment fraud by rogue brokers.  This is borne out in detail through serious complaints published on the Malta Arbiter’s website also include Dominion Fiduciary Services, STM, Optimus, ITC and Mark Donnelly’s MC Trustees.  All these firms negligently allowed high-risk, high-commission, unsuitable investments by unscrupulous brokers (resulting in total loss for the victims).

    These Malta-based pension providers open the gateway to the death offices in the Isle of Man – who host the high-risk investments and facilitate the illegal commissions.  The Asset Review Team at Quilter International had reported concerns about this a decade ago:

    “Commerzbank and Leonteq structured products appear to be risky and not good value due to relatively high commissions.”

    The Asset Review Team also described the undisclosed commission arrangement operated by Nigel Green’s DeVere:

    “DeVere’s model is that they take 4% for advice plus an arrangement fee of 4%.  The 4% advice fee is disclosed.  The arrangement fee is not disclosed to the customer.  The client pays 104% for a structured product with an issue price of 100%.  If the client tried to exit the product on day 2 they would receive 96% for something that they paid 104% for.”

    (And let us not forget that this is just DeVere’s commission on the investments – they also receive up to 8% on the insurance bonds as well).

    Former IoM regulator Peter Kenny – as MD and CEO of Quilter International – did accept liability in 2018 for facilitating the CWM fraud.  He agreed to compensate the victims.  But then he realised this could compromise the £200 million claim against rogue structured note provider Leonteq – and reneged on the agreement.

    So, Gary Robinson, Head of International Adviser, before you start popping the champagne corks and handing out awards to firms which have facilitated fraud, why not announce a minute’s silence to remember the victims.  Describe the misery they have suffered; the poverty; the loss of a lifetime’s work to build up a pension; the broken marriages; the lost homes; the distress and depression.  And don’t forget the deaths.  NEVER FORGET THE DEATHS GARY.

    Gary Robinson of International Adviser celebrating global financial services fraud
    Gary Robinson of International Adviser celebrating global financial services fraud

    DeVere Reviews

    de Swaan 30 Mar 2025

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Stay away from DeVere at all cost

    A few weeks ago I wrote a review of the pathetic service that, for four years (from 2020 to 2024) I received from the Mexican subsidiary of de Vere Group. Today I received a message from Trustpilot informing that my review was removed for “containing possible defamatory accusations”. I have expressed to Trustpilot my absolute willingness to present the evidence for each of the arguments contained in that message, which I summarize below.

    1. de Vere Group is the typical financial company that will approach you with a lot of kindness and good treatment in the first meetings, but then it will basically disappear and it will be up to the customer to chase it to be served.
    2. de Vere Group has the highest personnel rotation you’ve ever seen in a company. In four years I had five financial advisors, which basically leaves the client in an absolute state of defenselessness, because there is no institutional strategy and invariably the advisor in turn will blame the previous one for the decisions and poor performance of your portfolio.
    3. De Vere Group has no incentive for its clients to do well (and it shows) because its commissions are totally unrelated to the financial performance of its clients. Always look for advisors whose fees are related to the performance of your financial boards.
    4. After the departure of each advisor, with de Vere Group it will be up to the client to pursue the company to be served again and it is impossible to demand that there be the slightest continuity in the strategy because the new advisor will start the relationship as if you were a new client and promote new strategies criticizing his predecessor.
    5. When they retire, each advisor will seek to get you to maintain the relationship with him or her by talking badly about the company they are leaving (and I don’t blame them)

    I have dozens of emails that can prove every word of what I expose here. I wish de Vere were as good a financial advisor as he is to accuse defamation.

    Date of experience: 30 June 2024

    Joe Dobert 24 Feb 2025

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Avoid

    They have possibly up to 10% markups on their structured notes and their advisors are not even aware of this. My recommendation: always compare with other providers.

    Date of experience: 24 November 2024

    David 15 Apr 2025

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    I have lost more than 80 % of what I invested in cash more than 18 years ago.invested USD 103,000 in a collective…

    I invested USD 103 000 in a collective investment bond with this company in Qatar in 2007. I was promised quarterly meetings with the advisor for him to give me advise. Subsequently, the company closed their Qatar office, closed their Dubai office, closed their Oman office, closed their South African office etc. As of 2025, My investment is worth USD 21000 and I am battling to get the money out of a company Utmost in the Isle of man. They are making me jump through hoops to provide them with all sorts of information before they will pay out. I have received no advice in 18 years, the bond has been handled by several organisations over the years and I have made several attempts to stop the constant fees. I hold De Vere totally responsible for the losses. What they are doing is destroying peoples lives by hiding behind their lawyers, the small print in their systems and collusion with other corrupt financial organisations.

    Date of experience: 15 April 2025

    Guardian Wealth Management Reviews

    R Reames 6 Nov 2023

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Poor communication

    Poor communication. Happy to take their fees but with no portfolio management. Allowed my investment to lose almost 40% with no intervention.

    Date of experience: 06 November 2023

    Martyn Kilburn 30 Sept 2023

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    #leavemealone

    I would have not even bothered writing a review but skybound wealth keep hassling me about my investment. I looked on website reviews and they are all 5 stars. I can only imagines they have been left by the friends and family of skybound wealth. For me the whole investment thing was a bit of a mummer’s farce. I can only describe it as imagining you had two uncles visiting your house. 1. Uncle skybound wealth/uncle jimmy saville and 2. Uncle guardian wealth/ uncle rolf harris. Either way they seemed alright at the beginning but in the end violated you financially.

    Date of experience: 30 September 2023

    Holborn Assets Reviews

    Chad Kassis 17 Dec 2024

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Save Your Money And Go Somewhere Else

    Holborn Assets has been one of the most disappointing companies I’ve ever dealt with. A few years ago, I entrusted them with a significant investment, expecting the typical services of a reputable asset management firm, regular updates, performance reviews, and professional portfolio management. Unfortunately, none of these expectations were met. Most of my emails went unanswered, their performance was subpar, and their high annual fees were completely unjustifiable. I was paying 3% annually for literally nothing! I initially thought the issue might be with our manager, but even escalating concerns to his superiors and their superiors proved futile. In reality, Holborn Assets seems to function more as a glorified sales operation than a legitimate asset management firm. If you’re looking for a trustworthy investment partner, a company that does the bare minimum of customer support, I strongly advise looking elsewhere. Save your money and your peace of mind! I will be writing an in-depth blog and video posts to document and share this awful experience!

    Date of experience: 15 December 2024


    Steve Poll     10 Nov 2024

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Verified

    Lost over 40% in a moderate risk fund over 7 years

    We invested a lump sum with Holburn Assets in 2017 with a risk profile of moderate (so, not high risk). By 2023 we had had enough of the fund depreciating in value each year. Having requested early exit from the scheme, it took 10 months to get our remaining monies transferred out. Whenever we or our new financial advisor provided information required to complete the exit, yet another request for even more information would suddenly appear.

    By the time we paid the early exit fees our investment had depreciated by over 40% (and that’s before you allow for inflation).

    When we complained to Holburn Assets we were told that the low amount of monies we got back was due to the exit fees. While these exit fees were high, most of the losses were from their poor investment and high annual fees. At no time did they suggest we move the monies into another fund.

    Our new financial advisor (who has performed well so far) summed up our experience with Holburn Assets very well – excessively high annual costs and extremely poor performance.

    Date of experience: 10 October 2024

    Verified

    Mondial Reviews

    M Robinson 8 May 2025

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Beware!!!!!!

    Beware. Mark Donnelly owns a large stake in this company. Mark is a convicted criminal in the UK. He oversaw the collapse of Brite Advisors which was forcibly liquidated by Australian regulator because of massive irregularities – Mark then quickly left Australia to come to the UAE.

    Date of experience: 09 May 2025

    15 May 2024

    Be Careful!

    Be Careful!
    A major Owner of this business was the owner of the firm of advisors that managed my retirement savings. Margin loans were raised by the firm of advisors, using our retirement assets (which were supposed to be held in trust) as collateral. Money went missing and the loans were not repaid. The firm has been placed in receivership by Australian Authorities. Our retirement assets are now frozen.

    Date of experience: 15 May 2024

    Useful3Share

    MU

    12 May 2024

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    My UK offshore retirement fund (QROPS)…

    My UK offshore retirement fund (QROPS) is now frozen, until the Receivers of Brite have figured out where the missing funds went and how much is left of retirement investors Assets. These assets (supposedly held in trust) were used by Brite as collateral for margin loans, to expand their portfolio of clients and to buy luxury cars. Brite stopped paying the loans, were placed in receivership and investors assets were frozen. The owner of Brite is a major owner of Mondial Dubai, think twice before investing there.

    Date of experience: 12 May 2024

    British Expat in Colorado

    8 May 2024

    Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    AVOID

    I don’t know about how Mondial operated previously, but recently I understand a certain Mark Donnelly acquired 75% controlling ownership. He had previously led Brite Advisors globally which was shut down by regulators in Australia early in 2024 after reporting issues and a significant hole was ‘discovered’ in client’s pensions Assets under Management – I would NOT recommend getting involved with ANY company associated with him.

    Date of experience: 01 May 2024

  • Pension Scams Explained – Stage 2

    Pension Scams Explained – Stage 2

    Our last blog in this series recreated the offshore pension scam process. We covered the set up and hard sell.  The slick salesman prepared the unwitting victim and convinced him his pension would be better off out of the UK.

    The silver-tongued spiv, Darren, posing as an adviser, conned his new client with no problem at all.  The poor victim was duped into believing he should transfer his pension into a QROPS – an overseas pension scheme.  The con worked because the experienced scammer pressed all the right buttons:

    Your pension will be looked after better, it will be cheaper to manage, you’ll pay less tax, you won’t lose half of it when you die, you’ll get to choose your own pension investments!

    Of course, the scammer, didn’t point out that once out of the UK, John’s pension would have no protection.  Complete control of the money would be squandered will now lie in the hands of the unqualified, unlicensed scammers.

    The victim, John had stressed:

    I’ve paid tax all my life, so I feel I’ve paid my dues. I definitely don’t want to pay too much once I’m retired because every penny is going to count.

    But sadly he’s played right into the scammer’s hands.  His precious pension will be transferred into a QROPS and then into an insurance death bond:

    John: I worked for thirty years to build up that pension and I don’t want anything to happen to it.

    Darren: So, let’s look at all the ways you can improve your pension and make sure its protected.

    But far, far from improving or protecting the investor’s pension, the scammer has removed the precious retirement fund from the safety of the UK.  He’s sent it off to Malta or Gibraltar and then on to the Isle of Man or Guernsey.  The money is now well beyond the protection of British regulation or compensation. 

    John had stressed how he wanted low risk, but has now signed dozens of forms – and this will guarantee that his pension will be exposed to high risk.  Darren didn’t give him a chance to read or understand these long and complex forms.  And the most important form of all was a blank investment dealing instruction.  Once this has been signed by John, the scammer can copy it dozens of times and invest the pension money in whatever pays the highest commission.     

    Blank dealing instructions

    The whole point of this scam is for the scammer to make money out of the victim by a whole series of hidden commissions.

    Darren: My firm would charge you a small fee for setting up the transfer and then looking after your pension investments moving forwards.

    But what will actually happen is that the scammer will openly charge three or four – or more – percent in set-up fees, plus one or two percent a year service charge.  But, under the table, he will earn a further 7% hidden commission from the death office – such as Quilter International, Utmost International, RL360 or Friends Provident.

    Darren: Right. And then we can start investing your pension and making it grow – so you’ll be able to have a happy and healthy retirement.

    John, and all the other victims, will be a long way from being happy or healthy.  Because the death office has a platform that the scammer will use to pick the highest-commission investments.  So John’s pension fund will be used to line the scammer’s pockets for the next ten years – as he will be stuck in the death bond for that long.

    Commission based

    Investments that pay the highest commissions – such as structured notes and unregulated collective investment schemes – are also the highest in terms of risk.  John’s pension can now only lose money.  And as the value of his hard-earned retirement savings goes down and down, the scammer’s commissions will keep on going up and up.

    John, along with all the other victims, will end up losing part – or all – of his pension.  He may well lose his home, see his marriage break up, develop depression or a life-threatening illness.  He may even take his own life.     

    But John and his dire poverty will be long forgotten by the slick, silver-tongued scammer.  He’ll be busy rubbing his hands with glee at his next batch of victims.  Because there’s plenty of them and this form of pension fraud is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon.

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  • Pension Scams Explained

    Pension Scams Explained

    Every offshore pension scam starts with a “financial advisor”. Or, at least, a slick salesman posing as a financial adviser.   This person can also call himself a “wealth consultant” or “senior associate”.

    After the scammer pretending to be an adviser, the next player is the life office. More accurately described as a “death” office, this type of insurance company pollutes and corrupts financial services by ensuring three things:

    • Few so-called “financial advisers” offshore are truly independent. They are tied to – and dependent on – the life offices for fat, abusive and undeserved commissions.
    • There is virtually no such thing offshore as providing proper qualified advice – only selling products for commission. Products recommended to the victim are chosen because they pay the most commissions – rather than because they are in the investor’s interests.
    • The victim will be placed into a “death bond” – also known as a life bond, offshore bond, portfolio bond, insurance bond or wrapper.  This toxic, high-risk, expensive and unnecessary product serves only one purpose: to pay a hidden commission to the so-called adviser.

    Death bond providers (also known as “life” offices) have facilitated vast amounts of fraud for well over a decade. This has resulted in the destruction of hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of pensions and life savings across Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and beyond.

    With the recent merging of RL360 and FPI, as well as Utmost and Quilter, this trend is set to increase.

    The only way to protect consumers from being defrauded in the next decade is to educate them. The next raft of potential victims needs to be warned, informed, educated and prepared – so they too don’t fall victim to the death offices and their associates.

    Here we recreate a typical exchange between a potential victim and a salesman posing as an adviser. Watch and learn; read and weep. This is what has already happened to thousands of expats. Don’t be the next victim conned by a fraudster and a death office.

    Introducing Darren Blacklee-Smith of High Assets Wealth and John Carson – a builder who moved to sunny Spain to retire early.

    Darren: Nice to meet you John. So, you want to move your frozen pension out of the UK as you now live in Spain?

    John: Yes, I’ve been in Spain a few years now, with Brexit and everything, I’m not sure I should leave my pension where it is.

    Darren: Very wise to look at your options. Your pension would probably be better off in a QROPS because it would be looked after better, would be cheaper to manage, you’d pay less tax, and you wouldn’t risk losing half of it when you die. Best of all, you’d get to choose your own pension investments!

    DING! This is the first warning sign. The old “you’d pay less tax” trick… normally it’s the hook, line and sinker for this type of scam. Who doesn’t want to pay less tax after a lifetime of it? However, the so-called “lower tax charges” are nothing compared to the hidden commissions on the death bond and the toxic investments.

    John: That all sounds like it would be better for me in the long run – and cheaper. So where would I move my pension to?

    Darren: We’d recommend a QROPS in Malta as this is one of the best countries to move your pension to. It is a safe place for your pension to be looked after properly.

    DING DING!! Malta was a prolific harbour for pension scams for a decade. It was a grey area, making it easy for scammers to make as much money as possible. The Malta regulator has tried to tighten up the regulations to prevent further scams, but the scammers always find a new loophole.

    John: So how much would all this cost me?

    Darren: My firm would charge you a small fee for setting up the transfer and then looking after your pension investments moving forwards.

    DING DING DING!!! Oh how he makes it sound so simple! The fees that these advisors take are hefty. And they are not the only charges that will contribute to the destruction of the pension – because of the hidden commissions.

    John: Sorry to ask this question, but how is your firm qualified or licensed, or whatever, to look after my pension investments?

    Darren: Very important question to ask John – and I am more than happy to give you all the information you need to be comfortable that we are fully licensed.

    DING DING DING DING!!!!You can look up any company or person’s license to verify if they’re actually registered or not.  But most consumers don’t know how to do this.

    John: Oh, I’m glad about that – I didn’t want to offend you, but you do hear stories don’t you…..

    Darren: Absolutely. Now, we’re fully regulated and I’m fully qualified. It’s all on our website and here’s my business card and you can see all my qualifications.

    John: I’m glad about that. I worked for thirty years to build up that pension and I don’t want anything to happen to it. The wife and I moved to Spain to have a comfortable retirement, and I need to make sure I’m making the right decision.

    Darren: Absolutely. Definitely. So, let’s look at all the ways you can improve your pension and make sure its protected. The first question to ask is whether you want tax efficiency? You don’t want to pay too much tax do you?

    John: I’ve paid tax all my life, so I feel I’ve paid my dues. I definitely don’t want to pay too much once I’m retired because every penny is going to count.

    Darren: Well, that’s why we often recommend our clients should use a tax-efficient insurance bond, like Quilter. This is one of the World’s biggest insurance companies and this will not only protect your pension, but will also make sure you don’t pay too much tax.

    DING DING DING DING DING!!!!! And this is the most dangerous part. Quilter will almost certainly be the death of your pension. A bond is not suitable for a pension. It is way too expensive and inflexible. And provides no tax advantages within a pension for someone living offshore.

    John: That sounds great. So how do we go about this? How do we get the ball rolling, and what do you need me to do?

    Darren: Right, I’ve got some forms for you to sign……we’ll need to get your pension transferred over to Malta, and then open up the insurance bond. And then we can start investing your pension and making it grow – so you’ll be able to have a happy and healthy retirement.

    Darren: So, this is the transfer application, sign here…..

    John: Ooh, not sure if I’ve got a pen…..

    Darren: Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty!

    This will complete the first stage in the pension scam process. It is a condensed version, as it can take weeks or months of email/phone exchanges. But the result is usually the same: Loss and destruction of the pension.

    The scammer posing as an adviser hasn’t explained or revealed the charges and commissions.  And he hasn’t told the victim how inflexible the bond is or how it provides no protection or tax savings in reality.  And now the scammer has a signed, blank dealing instruction so he can proceed to invest the victim’s pension in high-risk, high-commission investments provided by the death office.

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  • Who cares about Careys and the world of pension scams?

    Who cares about Careys and the world of pension scams?

    Pension scams have been destroying lives for more than a decade.  The scammers cause poverty, marriage breakdowns and even death.  Death caused by stress-related illness.  And death by suicide.

    A typical pension scam involves an unlicensed person pretending to be a financial adviser.  This is illegal.  But it goes on all the time, in the UK and offshore.

    All pension scams result in the loss of part or all of the pension.  And, sometimes, crippling tax liabilities on top.

    Most pension scams start with a pension transfer that should never have happened.  And finish with investments which are unsuitable and risky. 

    One particular pension scam involved an unlicensed introducer called Terence Wright (i.e. a scammer posing as a financial adviser).  Wright ran a business in Spain called CLP (Commercial Land and Property).

    Gerard McMeel QC won the Adams V Carey appeal for lorry driver Russell Adams
    Professor Gerard McMeel QC of Quadrant Chambers

    In 2012, Wright conned hundreds of victims into transferring their pensions into a Carey SIPPS (SIPPS stands for Self Invested Personal Pension Scheme).  The sole purpose for these transfers was to invest the pension funds in assets which paid the highest commissions to Wright and the other scammers involved.

    One of these victims, a lorry driver called Russell Adams, felt so strongly that he had been defrauded, that he took his case to the High Court.  But, in the first round, he lost.  

    Undaunted by his defeat, Mr. Adams came back for round two, and – represented by Gerard McMeel QC – he won.   

    In the landmark High Court appeal ruling, the Adams v Carey case resulted in SIPP provider Carey being ordered to put things right. After the previous judge failed to give Mr. Adams the justice he deserved, a victory was obtained which should help prevent future pension scams.

    In the appeal, the judge – Justice Andrews – ruled that the case involved:

    Lady Justice Andrews in the court of appeal ruled in favour of Russell Adams against Carey Pensions.
    Justice Geraldine Andrews

    “opportunities for unscrupulous entities to target the gullible”

    She ordered Carey Pensions to refund Mr. Adams his pension. She mentioned “financial crime” and placed much of the blame squarely at the door of the unlicensed introducer – Terence Wright of CLP – who gave investment advice illegally.


    The Adams v Carey case is likely to herald a flood of similar claims against pension providers like Carey. So let’s have the drains up on this case – and break down the main ingredients. Then we’ll see what lessons can be learned. And how similar pension scams could be avoided in the future.

    SO HOW DO PENSION SCAMS WORK?

    It all starts with HMRC.

    HMRC SHARK

    A British pension scheme (whether a personal or occupational one) starts with an HMRC registration number. The good, the bad, the ugly – and the downright stinky – pension schemes are all registered by HMRC. And in the case of occupational schemes, by the Pensions Regulator as well.

    HMRC makes no distinction between schemes set up for bona fide reasons, and those which are set up for scamming. HMRC doesn’t care – and anyway they say that consumer protection isn’t their responsibility.

    WHAT IS A PENSION SCHEME?

    A pension scheme is just a wrapper – like a cardboard box or a paper bag. On its own, a pension scheme can’t do any harm. Try looking at an empty cardboard box for a moment and ask yourself how much damage it could do. Watch it carefully – and see if you can spot it doing anything dangerous or sinister. I reckon that however closely you watch it, nothing untoward will happen (although your cat might curl up inside it and take a nap).

    Christine Hallett - CEO of Carey Pensions (now called Options) and her box of dynamite
    Christine Hallett CEO of Carey Pensions

    Remember that it isn’t the box itself that could be dangerous, but the people handling it and
    putting things inside it. An empty box could become a delightful xmas present if filled with mince pies and chocolate. Or, if filled with dynamite and nails, it could become a deadly bomb which could kill and maim hundreds of people.

    Whether a pension scheme is a personal or occupational pension, a SIPP, a SSAS, a QROPS
    or a QNUPS, it is just an empty wrapper. A harmless container which can be used responsibly
    by good people, or recklessly and even maliciously by bad people.

    The lesson is that the cardboard box itself doesn’t do the damage – it is the people who handle it.

    The Adams v Carey case will inevitably be a turning point for the pension industry – both in the UK and offshore.  There will now be a big question mark over the word “self” in the phrase “self invested”.  This phrase may have to be upgraded to “sort of self invested”.  This is because the successful appeal makes it clear there is still a duty by the trustee to make sure nothing happens to pension funds which is clearly bonkers. 

    Mr. Adams was one of 580 Carey SIPP members who were all invested solely in store pods in the space of one year.  And none of them had a licensed financial adviser.  To put this into context, nearly 50 people a month transferred their pensions into a Carey SIPP and voluntarily invested the whole lot in store pods. 

    A reasonable person might ask why Carey didn’t ask themselves why there was this sudden stampede coming out of the blue?  Why so many people wanted to invest their entire pension funds into the same illiquid property asset?  Why so many different people were advised and represented by an unlicensed introducer in Spain?

    Perhaps after the first month, Carey might have raised a bit of an eyebrow.  After the second and third months, Carey’s CEO Christine Hallett might have decided to question whether Terence Wright of CLP in Spain was a suitable person to advise so many different people to invest in the exact same asset. 

    But she didn’t.  She let the torrent of victims of Terence Wright’s unlicensed “advice” continue unchecked.  Hallett is described on her LinkedIn profile as:

    “one of the country’s most knowledgeable experts in the SIPP world and a highly respected leader in the financial services industry”

    FCA warning against Terence Wright of CLP - ignored by Christine Hallett of Carey Pensions

    And yet she didn’t check the FCA website to see whether Terence Wright was legit.  Had she done so, she would have found a clear warning that he was providing financial advice without a license.  And that is a criminal offence.

    Terence Wright was involved in both the pension transfer process and the investment process.  And yet he had no qualifications or license to do either – and there was a clear FCA warning against him. 

    The ordinary man in the street may routinely check their emails, Facebook and Twitter, but would be unlikely to check the FCA website.  However, a “highly respected leader in the financial services industry” ought to have checked the FCA website as routinely as any normal person would check their social media.

    The Carey “Key Features” document stated that the member was responsible for investment decisions.  And that is where the “self” bit comes from in “Self Invested Personal Pension”.   But Carey also recommended that a suitably-qualified adviser ought to be used – to make sure that the pension transfer was in their best interests.

    There is nothing wrong with having some illiquid commercial property in a pension portfolio.  But the key to all investment decisions is “diversity” and not putting all one’s eggs in one basket (or cardboard box – or indeed pension wrapper).  Had Russell Adams been advised by a proper, qualified, licensed adviser, he would have been warned against investing his whole fund in any one asset.  To put everything into one single investment is always high risk and irresponsible – no matter how solid and safe the asset may be.

    To be fair to Carey, they did eventually sever terms of business with CLP.  But for some extraordinary reason they still acted on CLP’s investment recommendations until eventually deciding they were no longer suitable in April 2013 – nearly a year later. 

    The appeal judgement concluded that the Carey SIPP was recommended by Terence Wright solely for the purpose of investing in the store pods (and the accompanying introducer commissions).  And that all the “advice” given by CLP was part of an inextricably-linked bundle of transactions which included the transfer and the investment.

    This “bundle” of advice consisted of the transfer out of the original pension scheme; the transfer into the Carey SIPP; the investments (in the store pods).  And the whole kit and caboodle was in contravention of article 53 of the FCA regulations. 

    Carey’s own documentation admitted that investments of less than £50k in a Full SIPP were not economically viable.  This should have alerted Carey itself to the fact that many of the 580 people advised by CLP would inevitably suffer from disproportionately high fees.

    The judges in Russel Adams’ case summarised the reasons for allowing the appeal:

    i) Dealing with an unregulated intermediary

    ii) Admitting an asset which could not be valued

    iii) Proceeding with the store pod investment despite concerns in May 2012

    Carey, now called Options, may come back for round 3 if they are given leave to appeal this judgement.  Whether they are allowed to do this or not, this leaves the pension industry with a 100% crystal-clear message:

    DO NOT DEAL WITH UNLICENSED INTRODUCERS

    Most of the things that have gone wrong, in the past decade, are because of advice given by unscrupulous, unqualified, unlicensed “introducers”.  And their mission is clear: to encourage victims to do what earns the introducer the most money – even though it will inevitably cause loss and damage to the victim.

    The pensions industry worldwide must now get behind a coherent and determined campaign to stamp out the scourge of the unlicensed introducer.  Confidence needs to be rebuilt in British and overseas pensions.  And that can only be done by outlawing the rogues and scammers who have done so much damage to so many thousands of victims.

    Terence Wright's luxury mansion paid for by victims' pensions and life savings
    Terence Wright’s luxury mansion in France

    It is, indeed, ironic that Terence Wright of CLP was operating from Spain – the capital of the world of pension and investment scams.  He was able to ruin UK-residents’ lives all the way from the Costa del Sol.  He was given access to a harmless pension wrapper, and managed to transfer hundreds of pensions which should have been left where they were. 

    But the real story is that Terence Wright and his wife Lesley made a fortune out of scamming Russel Adams and hundreds of other victims.  And he is still at it from his new luxury home in France: a stunning mansion in the Dordogne region of France:

    https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2013/04/17/terry-wrights-great-escape-from-spain/

    With his own private plane and stables for his wife Lesley’s collection of horses, he now lives a life of luxury and commutes to Dubai to pursue his lucrative “business” activities.

    Terence Wright and his wife Lesley - enjoying the good life while his victims suffer poverty in retirement
    Terence Wright and his wife Lesley

    This is what is so sad and disgusting about all the scammers behind the many hundreds of pension and investment frauds this past decade or so.  They reap eye-watering rewards. Despite a few limp attempts by the SFO to bring scammers to justice they rarely face jail sentences.

    The pensions industry needs to get behind a solid campaign to bring these criminals to justice.  Lorry driver Russel Adams did his bit to kick this initiative off.  It is now up to the pension providers themselves to take this to the next level. And finally restore confidence in British and overseas pensions.

  • Fraud Trial Against Pension Scammers in Spain

    Fraud Trial Against Pension Scammers in Spain

    The Spanish criminal trial of so-called “financial advisers” in Denia has exposed the widespread fraud routinely committed in offshore financial services for over a decade.

    This particular stage of this particular trial may be directed at just eight members of Continental Wealth Management and Premier Pension Solutions. For now. But the case – brought by Pension Life – needs to be extended to all parties who have committed similar offences in offshore financial services.

    Spain is the second-largest expat jurisdiction in the world – after Australia. More than three quarters of a million British expats have settled in the Spanish sunshine. That’s over half the total in the whole of Australia. And these Spanish-resident expats are sitting targets for pension scammers.

    It is not unusual for Brits to be suspicious of foreigners in any country. Expats typically veer towards their own countrymen. They are notorious for being suspicious of foreign food and customs. Hence, the depressing fact that it is British scammers who relieve British victims of their pensions and life savings.

    And this is why so many British expats – especially in Spain – fall prey to bogus “financial advisers” flogging bogus life assurance policies provided by bogus insurance companies – like Quilter International headed up by Peter Kenny.

    The facts of this criminal case are indisputable. One thousand victims were scammed by Continental Wealth Management. Between 2009 and 2017, these victims lost many millions of pounds’ worth of pensions and life savings. And much of this was facilitated by Quilter International (formerly Old Mutual International).

    So how were these losses caused? What on earth went wrong? Financial services – in any country – should be a safe industry which investors can rely on. Depend on. Why have so many expats – not just the Continental Wealth Management victims – lost so much money?

    Who and what is to blame for the loss of hundreds of millions of pounds?

    The short version of the answer is: “COMMISSIONS”. Offshore advisers get rich by selling products for commissions. What they don’t sell is independent financial advice. Proper independent advice (provided by a correctly and properly qualified and licensed adviser) is about recommending an appropriate investment strategy which is in the best interests of the client. And, of course, charging a reasonable and commercially-viable fee for such advice.

    But that rarely – if ever – happens in offshore, expat jurisdictions. What is cleverly presented as “advice” is generally just a dishonest ploy to sell a client unsuitable products which they don’t need and that will make the salesman the most commission.

    The orchestrators, facilitators and architects of all this fraud are the “life offices”. In practice and in reality, these companies are more about death than life. Their business is about destroying life savings and pensions – while enriching the pockets of fraudsters.

    There are various ways to combat this widespread fraud facilitated by the life offices:

    • Bring criminal proceedings against ALL those who have defrauded their clients – from bogus, unlicensed advisory firms to the life offices themselves
    • Ensure all so-called advisory firms (sometimes calling themselves “wealth managers”) are correctly licensed in the jurisdiction where they provide advice
    • Make it mandatory for all advisers to be properly qualified to provide financial advice
    • Ban all firms without an investment license from providing investment advice
    • Educate consumers to only use advisory firms which openly disclose their professional indemnity insurance on their website

    The bald truth is that if the life offices – such as Quilter International, Friends Provident International and RL360 – were closed down, this widespread fraud would stop.

    The only way this fraud keeps going so vigorously and relentlessly, is the terms of business given by the life offices to the scammers. And, of course, the fat commissions the life offices pay to them. As well as the toxic, risky, high-commission-paying investments the life offices put on their “platforms” for the scammers to use (and abuse).

    You only have to look at Continental Wealth Management to see how quickly a scamming firm will collapse once life offices withdraw terms of business. The life offices are the life blood of scams and scammers.

    Without the facilitation of the “death” offices (Quilter International, Generali, SEB etc.) frauds such as Continental Wealth Management could not have taken place. The blood of all those who have died wretched, lonely deaths – and those who are suicidal – is squarely on the hands of Peter Kenny and his various cronies.

    The bank statements of Continental Wealth Management show the repeated amounts of fat commissions paid by Quilter International, Generali and SEB. And these amounts were paid willingly and cheerfully in the full knowledge that every payment meant more lives damaged; more funds destroyed; more miserable deaths.

    Quilter and their associates had reported on the victims’ losses for a decade; produced valuations and transaction histories evidencing the repeated, relentless fraud. And yet Quilter (and the other death offices) did nothing – just kept on and on facilitating the same fraud: repeat, repeat, repeat.

    While the “advisers” from Continental Wealth Management and Premier Pension Solutions stand trial – the hundreds of victims have to listen to the defendants’ offensive denials and excuses. But, worst of all, the distressed and impoverished victims know that the life (death) offices should also be on trial – standing shoulder to shoulder with the scammers themselves.

    The cause of the investment losses in the Continental Wealth Management case was almost exclusively toxic, high-risk (and high-commission) structured notes. These are complex investment instruments called “derivatives” and should only ever be used for professional or sophisticated investors. They are certainly completely unsuitable for ordinary people (who are classed as retail investors) or for pension schemes.

    High-risk structured notes are big business for the death offices. Quilter International (formerly Old Mutual International) has historically onboarded over 100 new structured products per month. In the case of the Continental Wealth Management fraud, it was the structured notes – from Leonteq, Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada and Nomura – which caused the terrible investment losses. These toxic, high-commission investment products – so beloved by the scammers because of the high commissions – were responsible for the destruction of millions of pounds’ worth of pensions and life savings.

    Quilter International knew perfectly well that these toxic products – totally unsuitable for retail investors – paid 8% commission to the scammers and a further 8% to 10% to the “arrangers”. They knew perfectly well – and admitted internally to their “asset review committee” – that these products were risky and “not good value”. But they still allowed the scammers (to whom they gave terms of business) to keep selling them.

    Quilter has also admitted that they had 2,047 structured products in total, and that the average holding per product was £243,654.03; that the smallest holding was £67.54 and the largest holding was £5,350,833.60. Quilter was concerned that there was a reputational risk to Quilter for allowing these structured products to be held within their offshore bonds. They also acknowledged that these products carried excessive commissions and were causing “suboptimal customer outcomes”. However, their concern for their own “reputational risk” did not extend to concern for their victims.

    Quilter has tried to wriggle out of culpability for the victims’ losses by claiming that investment product “suitability” is the responsibility of advisers. And that these so-called advisers are participating in a “race to the bottom”.

    However, the advisers are mostly scammers to whom Quilter has cheerfully given terms of business. And they are winning the race to the bottom by several lengths. If Quilter withdrew terms of business from all the scammers, the race wouldn’t even take place at all. In fact, all Quilter would have to do would be to ensure that all advisers are qualified and licensed – and that investors’ risk profiles are correctly respected – and the fraud would stop instantly.

    But until Quilter and all the other death offices are put on trial for fraud themselves, this crime is going to continue. And victims are going to keep losing their pensions and life savings – and dying in abject poverty.

    As an interesting post script, Quilter have posted a warning about scams on the internet. Their disingenuous claim that “Your security is our priority, so we have reacted quickly to help you and the financial advisers we work with to spot fraudsters” is ironic and cynical. Quilter themselves routinely work with fraudsters who pose as financial advisers – and who have no license or qualifications to provide financial advice.

  • Armed Against Pension Scams in Spain

    Armed Against Pension Scams in Spain

    Knowledge is power in the fight against pension scams in Spain and all British expat jurisdictions. Be warned! Be armed!

    In the past decade, millions of pounds of pensions and life savings have been destroyed in Spain. Much of this has involved insurance bonds (OMI, SEB and Generali) – as well as all other popular expat countries. Only by benefitting from lessons learned so painfully by those who’ve already been scammed, can new potential victims arm themselves against the scammers.

    Pension scams always start with a so-called “financial adviser” or “wealth manager” or “retirement consultant”. Sadly, it is almost always British “advisers” which scam British expats.

    Potential victims need to understand what to look out for – and avoid. Here are the essential “must haves” for proper, professional financial advisers (in other words people who sell advice, not products):

    • LICENCE – The firm must be licensed – both for insurance and for investment.
    • QUALIFICATIONS – The adviser must be qualified – and a link to proof of the qualification clearly visible on the firm’s website.
    • LEGACY – There must be no legacy of previous scamming within the firm.
    • INSURANCE – There must be a professional indemnity insurance policy in place.
    • NETWORK – If the firm is an agent of a network, there must be an up to date copy of the agency agreement freely available.
    • INSURANCE BONDS – The firm must not sell insurance bonds illegally.
    • UNREGULATED FUNDS AND STRUCTURED NOTES – The firm must not invest clients’ funds in unregulated or esoteric funds, or structured notes.
    • COMPLIANCE – There must be a proper compliance function in place.
    • MANAGEMENT AND TEAM – All members of the team must be clearly visible on the website – along with details of who is in charge and responsible for the firm’s activities and compliance.
    • COMMISSION POLICY – The firm’s policy on undisclosed commissions must be clearly visible.

    When I Googled the term: “Financial Adviser Spain” just now, the top results that came up for me were:

    Blacktower Wealth Management

    Blevins Franks

    Finance Spain – Patrick Macdonald

    Spectrum IFA

    Chorus Financial

    Abbey Wealth

    Alexander Peter

    Axis Consultants

    Logic Financial Consultants

    Harrison Brook

    Seagate Wealth

    When I changed the search term to: “Pension Advisor Spain” or “Wealth Advisor Spain” I also got the following:

    • deVere Spain
    • Mathstone Financial Management
    • Pennick Blackwell
    • SJB Global
    • United Advisers Group
    • Indalo Partners
    • Trafalgar-International
    • Fiduciary Wealth Management

    And one firm which won’t come up at all, no matter how hard you search, is:

    • Roebuck Wealth – run by Paul Clarke

    Plus one which only comes up if you know what to search for:

    • Callaghan Financial Services

    And, of course, the two which have closed down:

    • Continental Wealth Trust – aka Continental Wealth Management
    • Premier Pension Solutions

    So let’s take a look at some of these firms to see what we can learn from their websites and see if there are any warning signs for potential victims:

    Blacktower Wealth Management – Always look at the bottom of a firm’s website to read the small print and see how the firm is licensed. Blacktower is licensed by the Gibraltar Financial services Commission for both insurance mediation and investment advice. Why Gibraltar? Why not Spain? Gibraltar has a long history of facilitating and licensing scams and scammers and the Commission even employs one itself. The website claims to have “Consultants throughout our offices in Europe” – and this worries me. What is a “consultant”? Why not talk about advice, not consultancy?

    Looking at the directors and “international financial advisers” of the firm, there are quite a few. Associate Director Tim Govaerts claims to be qualified with the Chartered Institute of Insurers up to Level 3. But the CII register says they’ve never heard of him. Richard Mills claims to be qualified with both the CII and the CISI, but both registers say they’ve never heard of him. Quentin Sellar claims to be qualified with both the CII and the CISI, but only the latter has heard of him. Clifford Knezovich also claims to be qualified with the CISI but does not appear on the register. Lucia Melgarejo is another member of the team who also claims to be qualified. I met her a few years ago, when a colleague of hers had cold called me, and she told me that she was too busy selling to get qualified.

    The member of the Blacktower team which worries me the most is Terry Tunmore – as he was one of the scammers at Stephen Ward’s Premier Pension Solutions. Tunmore certainly soils the reputation of this firm, and should not be employed by any firm holding itself out to be professional and to have integrity.

    Under the Licensing section of the website, the firm is immediately getting potential clients warmed up to insurance bonds and “wrappers” – and states that it has permission to recommend them and provide investment advice on the underlying portfolios. This should worry any potential client – and ring loud alarm bells – as this indicates a clear intention to use bond providers such as Quilter, SEB, Generali or RL360 – and earn hidden commissions. These products are deemed to be invalid under Spanish law, and are routinely sold illegally in Spain.

    Blacktower’s website makes no mention (that I can find) of compliance or their professional indemnity insurance policy. It also worries me that Blacktower has so many “agents” – and without hard evidence of a robust compliance function, I think there is a risk that some of these agents could well be acting as unsupervised “feral” salesmen, rather than bona fide financial advisers.

    Blevins Franks – Well-known firm with offices in Spain, and other European countries. The team in Spain all have titles such as Partner, Private Client Manager or Regional Manager – and there is no mention of any of them being genuine financial advisers. In Spain, Partners Christopher McCann, Brett Hanson, Paul Montague, Andrew Southgate, Henry Rutherford and David Bowern all claim to be qualified with the London Institute of Banking & Finance, but none of them appears on the member register. Steven Langford claims to be CII qualified but does not appear on the register. With so many members of the team claiming – falsely – to be qualified, this should ring loud alarm bells with any potential victims. We know that Blevins Franks routinely puts all clients into a Lombard insurance bond – which means they are committing a criminal offence in Spain.

    Insurance bonds are illegal and invalid for the purpose of holding investments in Spain, and the usual manner of selling them is also a criminal offence. An insurance bond provides no benefits or protection for investors – and should never ever be used inside a pension (QROPS). Blevins Franks also has a close tie with Russell funds – and routinely invests their clients’ funds in Russell. There’s nothing bad about Russell – but there’s nothing good about them either. A portfolio should always be a well-spread mixture of funds from the whole market – not a narrow selection of investments from one provider. I can’t see any information on the Blevins Franks website about their professional indemnity insurance, compliance or commission policy. All in all, I think there are too many risks with this firm and it should be avoided.

    Finance Spain – Patrick Macdonald – This firm comes high up the Google rankings, so obviously spends a lot of money on SEO and/or Google Ads. The “Regulation” bit on the website states the firm is “part of a group who are regulated by the Financial Services Commission in Gibraltar”. But which “group” is it talking about? There’s a link to the GFSC website, but no evidence as to how the firm is licensed. The website also claims to consist of “qualified and regulated international wealth managers and members of the Chartered Institute for securities and Investment (CISI) in the UK”. But who are these so-called wealth managers? The only one named on the website is Patrick Macdonald – and the CISI register shows him as being employed by Blacktower. But the firm Finance Spain does not appear on the GFSC register as being one of Blacktower’s agents – so how is this firm licensed?

    What worries me most about this website is that it is openly flogging insurance bonds. It promotes “Spanish Portfolio Bonds” – which are routinely sold illegally by the scammers. It claims these bonds are a “tax beneficial home for investments”. But that isn’t true in Spain, as the so-called tax benefits only work for UK residents. In the “Wealth” section of the website, you are met with a brazen offer of insurance bonds from Prudential, Old Mutual and SEB. The section on pension transfers is also very worrying as it gives misleading comparisons between UK pension providers and EU-based QROPS providers; it fails to provide warnings against transferring final salary pensions and – worst of all – states “There is greater investment choice”. This so-called choice is what so many scammers in Spain (in the past ten years) have used to destroy victims’ pensions with high-risk, high-commission, unregulated investments such as structured notes.

    Ironically, the Finance Spain website has a section called “Top 5 Warnings” about pension scams. It recognises that the industry is rife with scammers and warns about cold calling, cashing in pensions, pension reviews and the promise of high returns. But it ignores the fact that Finance Spain is itself heavily promoting insurance bonds – which have been the biggest single cause of pension scams in Spain in the past decade. With no clear information about licensing, compliance, insurance or commission policy – and no idea who the firm is or by whom it is managed – I think it is safe to say this is one to avoid.

    Spectrum IFA – Oh dear, where to begin! There are so many alarm bells here, it’s like being inside a busy fire station. No investment license, but openly giving investment advice, and flogging insurance bonds: “efficient investing (using Insurance wrappers”. And that’s just the home page. The website openly boasts: “Our internationally qualified, professional advisers make certain you receive the best possible advice for the following areas:  Investment Advice in Spain – Pension planning in Spain. That’s a bold claim to make for a firm with no investment license.

    The website goes on to boast: “All our advisers live in Spain, are experienced and qualified.” But who are they? What are their qualifications? One “financial adviser” is Dennis Radford who claims to be qualified with the CISI – but does not appear on the register. Aside from lying about his qualifications, he is one of the former Continental Wealth Management scammers responsible for defrauding many victims out of their pensions and life savings. I have brought this to Spectrum’s attention before, but they obviously don’t care – as Radford brings in a lot of business and commission (on illegally-sold insurance bonds and high-risk, inappropriate investments).

    There is one adviser who is qualified with the CII – John Hayward. I believe he is a decent bloke – so what on earth he is doing with Spectrum is beyond me. Spain may be full of inadequately licensed firms which do nothing but flog insurance bonds to victims who don’t need them and can’t afford them, but there are some (admittedly not many) decent firms he could join.

    Abbey Wealth – This firm has been around a long time – flogging insurance bonds to unsuspecting victims. The firm was an agent of well-known scammers Inter Alliance – the “network” of which Continental Wealth Management was also a member. Abbey Wealth is now licensed by the Central Bank of Ireland. If you’ve ever wondered why so many firms like Ireland, it’s because regulation there is as flaccid as a marshmallow. Another reason why Quilter International is so active there with its insurance bonds – so beloved of so many pension scammers. Abbey boasts a flock of “advisers” who claim to be passionate about financial services – including Ben Noifield who states he is CII qualified (the CII register says otherwise). The rest of the sorry team are an assortment of unqualified salesmen masquerading as advisers.

    No mention of professional indemnity insurance, and no reference to their murky past as part of the Inter Alliance shambles.

    Alexander Peter – No information about if or how the firm is licensed; who the advisers are and whether they are qualified; who is in charge, what professional indemnity insurance they hold.

    Harrison Brook – This firm claims to be a member of the Nexus Global network. But there is no access to the agency agreement and no link to any professional indemnity insurance details or information about who is in charge and who the “advisers” are (and whether any of them are qualified). The question also has to be asked: why don’t firms get their own license rather than joining a network? Ding dong!

    Seagate Wealth – No information about how (or if) this firm is licensed. It states on the website: “We work in conjunction with fully regulated and authorised companies”. So presumably that’s an admittance that they are not regulated or authorised. There’s no information about who controls and is responsible for the firm, and nothing to state how any of the team members are qualified. Perhaps one of the biggest alarm bells about this lot is that they are mostly ex AES International and stole the Spanish client book back in 2015.

  • Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey

    Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak must dump Andrew Bailey as governor of the BoE

    Dear Mr. Sunak

    I write to implore you on behalf of the British population in general; British victims of financial services scams in particular and the financial services industry in the UK, to dump Andrew Bailey as the next governor of the Bank of England.  Immediately.

    Secondly, I urge you to sort out the FCA, the Pensions Regulator, HMRC, FOS and POS, the Insolvency Service and the police authorities.  Limp, ineffective regulation and law enforcement have long been the facilitators of pension and investment scams in Britain.  This devastating and highly embarrassing failure on the part of the British government for so many years has got to be addressed – once and for all.

    The case of Andrew Bailey’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England is one which demonstrates beyond doubt that both failure and fraud are rewarded in equal measure in the UK.  Bailey has single-handedly proved that Britain’s government and authorities care not a jot about the reform of the toxic element of British financial services.  Bailey has turned his back on our country; our people; our reputation as a financial services centre which should be the best in the World.  Sadly, Britain has now become not just one of the worst in the World, but a laughing stock internationally.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBGVB2OWBYc

    Those who are laughing loudest are the scammers and fraudsters who have made fortunes – repeatedly for years – out of innocent, hard-working British people.  The criminals are still out there, scamming away merrily, while the FCA does nothing.  This sends out the message that while petty burglars who steal a few hundred pounds’ worth of goods may get prison sentences, those who steal millions are left free to continue to ply their evil trade and ruin hundreds – sometimes thousands – more innocent lives.  And all because neither the FCA nor any other British government agency or law enforcement service is willing or able to bring these filthy criminals to justice.

    Rishi Sunak - genius or nitwit as the new chancellor?

    Your predecessor, Sajid Javid, made one of the biggest bungles in British history by appointing Bailey as the next governor of the BoE and acclaiming him as an “outstanding candidate” in the wake of his years of negligence and outright laziness at the FCA.  It is clear that Boris Johnson manoeuvred Javid out of office by insisting he should sack all his political advisers.  The fact that not one of them came out publicly to condemn Javid’s appalling judgement, demonstrates their incompetence.  And they should never have any place in British government again.

    Bailey’s multiple failures have been showcased by many prominent financial services figures.  Well-respected True and Fair Foundation’s Gina Millar has publicly shamed the FCA and Bailey’s long-standing record of miserable failure.

    https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/news/4011346/gina-miller-calls-chancellor-review-andrew-bailey-appointment-boe

    Miller has quite rightly warned that Bailey’s appointment as governor of the BoE would be a gross betrayal of consumers’ interests.  She has eloquently described Bailey’s and the FCA’s catalogue of negligence, incompetence and indifference.  She has listed the many failures which have resulted in thousands of British citizens losing their life savings:

    • M&G Property Fund £2.5bn +
    • Woodford EI Fund £1bn +
    • London Capital and Finance £236m +
    • Dozens of fraudulent investment bonds
    • Dozens of fraudulent investment funds
    • Dozens of fraudulent banks
    • Thousands of victims who have lost a lifetime’s taxed savings and wasted a life of hard, diligent work.

    The finance ministry has apparently argued that Britain needs experienced, credible leadership.  And it is right.  But Bailey is not credible (except with the scammers) and his experience at the FCA is limited to weakening and discrediting financial regulation.

    Ask yourself why FCA staff have problems: they have mental health issues; they are demoralised and resentful of their masters; they defecate on the floor; they vandalise the kitchens. 

    On top of this, the FCA has been fined by the Pensions Regulator for not following regulations, and have wrongfully published complainants’ data on the FCA website.  This extensive list of embarrassing and shameful failures cannot be explained away with a wave of Bailey’s grubby hand.  The ethical sector of the financial services industry is paying for all this through FSCS levy hikes and vastly increased PII premiums.  And the buck stops with the chancellor, Mr. Sunak.

    Campaigner Mark Taber – a professional investor – has successfully shown the FCA that their job can, and should, be done relatively easily.  All it takes is the will and incentive to do the work.  In a matter of weeks, Taber has identified dozens of mini bond scams which are being openly promoted by Google.  And the FCA has done nothing.  Admittedly, the FCA might be somewhat rudderless while Bailey measures himself for a new suit and Mont Blanc for his new gig at the BoE, but they’ve shown zero interest in the fact that all it takes is for someone to actually care about financial services and for the public to be warned effectively. And further, for these fraudulent mini bonds to be banned and those responsible for promoting them (including Google) to be sanctioned.

    Mark Taber https://www.ft.com/content/83485d90-f832-11e2-92f0-00144feabdc0#axzz2bTtvusN4 is doing the FCA’s work for nothing.  Because he believes the public have a right to be protected. 

    Gina Miller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Miller#True_and_Fair_Foundation is trying to protect the public from the failures of the FCA and Andrew Bailey.

    Look on Twitter and see the cacophany of financial services professionals – some highly respected and high profile – who are embarrassed by and furious at the FCA’s multiple failures.  Ask the thousands of victims of financial scams in Britain and beyond.  And ask the loved ones of those who have died due to the FCA’s and Andrew Bailey’s multiple failings.  Then ask yourself: do you really think Bailey should be the governor of the Bank of England?

    This disgusting mess needs to be sorted out once and for all.  The British authorities and government have facilitated – and even encouraged – financial crime for more than a decade: openly and brazenly.  And you, Mr. Sunak, are now firmly in the hot seat.  I do hope you are wearing neoprene y-fronts – because you are going to need them.

    For several years, it has been claimed that there is an alliance called Project Bloom – of which the FCA and tPR are supposedly members.  But what has this so-called project achieved?  Pension and investment scams are flourishing more successfully than ever, and very few of the fraudsters are behind bars.  Still the victims of pension liberation scams are the ones facing penalties from HMRC while the scammers luxuriate in their country mansions and Florida holiday homes, sipping champagne and having a good laugh at the ineptitude of the British authorities.

    I will be writing to you openly and publicly over the next few weeks to encourage you to do the right thing.  If Bailey’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England goes ahead, it will thoroughly discredit Britain and the British government.  Your tenure as chancellor will be recorded in history as starting on a shameful note.  Boris Johnson will be remembered as the prime minister who disgraced Britain and destroyed the reputation of Britain’s financial services.

    Johnson is already on shaky ground as he promised to help and support some of his constituents who had fallen victim to the Ark pension scam (and has subsequently betrayed them by doing nothing to honour his promises).  The action you take next will determine whether you are another betrayer of the interests of consumers, or whether you have the balls to be proactive.

    Read Henry Tapper’s wonderful blogs:

    Ever wondered where those “pension leads” come from?

    Talk to some victims who’ve had the courage to take their case to a Spanish criminal court: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-8044237/Victims-rogue-pensions-scandal-fight-courts.html

    Talk to Dalriada Trustees who are custodians of more than 30 scam pension schemes (but who don’t think it is their remit to report the perps to the police or initiate private criminal prosecutions).  Ask them how many of the schemes promoted and run by Stephen Ward and Peter Moat (since 2011) they now have under their control: https://www.fscs.org.uk/failed-firms/1-stop-fast-pensions/

    Go onto the Blackmore Bond and Global Fund Facebook Group and read the anguish of the betrayed lenders/investors: https://www.facebook.com/groups/498072800835888/

    But most important of all, go onto the Smith and Williamson website and read about what the FCA can do if it puts its mind to it: https://smithandwilliamson.com/en/services/restructuring-and-recovery-services/park-first/

    Having known about the high-profile Store First matter in 2014, the FCA is only now taking regulatory action against Park First more than five years later.  The funds of the 6,000 Park First investors have now been used to pay several £ millions in fees to Smith and Williamson and their lawyers Mishcon de Reya and Park First’s lawyers Paul Hastings.  And all because five years after the event, the FCA decided Park First was a collective scheme.  Five years after 6,000 people have invested in the scheme.

    But Park First exists.  The car parks exist.  And they are making money.  The FCA could have gone to the airports where the Park First car parks are operating.  Andrew Bailey could have driven his (undoubtedly luxurious) car into the Park First car parks and actually stood on the tarmac and watched the thousands of other car park users doing the same.

    Then Bailey could have asked what were the assets of Woodford, M&G Property, LC&F, Blackmore Bond and Blackmore Global Fund.  And he could have done the maths.  But, of course, he didn’t bother.

    Mr. Sunak – you can be a hero or a disgusting disgrace.  You choose.

    Regards, Angela Brooks – Pension Life

  • Fighting pension scams – Qualifications

    Fighting pension scams – Qualifications

    Fighting pension scams needs to be done logically and methodically.  Decent advisers need to use high standards to help fight scams.  If these standards become the norm, the scammers won’t survive and flourish so easily.

    Fighting pension scams – Qualifications

    Most qualified advisers want nothing to do with pension scams.  Many offshore firms employ advisers who have not passed the required exams.  Even if an adviser has qualified, he or she must still be registered.  We recently surveyed a number of offshore advisory firms:

    Belgravia Wealth     Square Mile      Robusto   Spectrum     Blevins Franks     Seagate Wealth     Woodbrook Group     Globaleye

    Lots of offshore advisers consider they don’t need to be qualified.  Let’s have a look at an example:

    The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is the largest and most widely respected professional body for those who work in the securities. The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is a professional body dedicated to building trust in the insurance and financial planning profession.

    All financial advisory firms should list their advisers, provide clear details of each adviser’s qualifications and a link to the institute’s register showing evidence of the qualifications.

    Here is a useful guide to qualifications: Qualified Adviser for QROPS

     “Qualifications are not the be all/end all.  A certificate does not prove professional competence in the field , ethics or experience. But the public have to start their due diligence somewhere.”

    Sadly, there are a few well qualified advisers who are the exception to the rule.  Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions ran numerous scams:

    Ark     Evergreen     Capita Oak     Westminster     Southlands     Headforte

    Randwick Estates     Bollington Wood     Hammerley     Halkin     Feldspar

    and many others such as Westminster and London Quantum – ruining thousands of lives.  Several of his schemes are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.  He also provided the transfer advice in the Continental Wealth scam.

    Any decent adviser will want to be fully qualified.  And registered.  The rest should go back to selling snake oil.  But consumers must remember there are exceptions.  Some regulated firms get it wrong.  Qualified advisers can get it wrong.

    The trick is to know all the questions to ask.  Here’s where the ten standards come in handy:

    1. Firm must be fully regulated – with licenses for insurance and investment advice
    2. Advisers must be qualified to the right standard pension-life.com/ten-essential-standards-for-pension-advice
    3. Firm must have Professional Indemnity Insurance
    4. Clients must have comprehensive fact finds and risk profiles
    5. Firm must operate adequate compliance procedures
    6. Advisers must not abuse insurance bonds
    7. Clients must understand the investment policy
    8. All fees, charges and commissions must be disclosed
    9. Investors must know how their investments are performing
    10. Firm must keep a log of all customer complaints

    Fighting pension scams – why qualifications are so essential

    If clients used only firms that tick all ten Standards boxes, it would be harder for the scammers to get business.  Decent firms who care about their reputation should make sure there are clear links to all advisers’ qualifications.  Make it easy for the consumer to understand how to check that the stated qualifications are genuine.  And help educate people to understand what qualifications are required.

    All too often, advisers claim to have qualifications that don’t exist – or that aren’t appropriate for investment advice.  For example, some advisers who are assuring clients they can advise on pensions and investments, only have qualifications suitable for mortgages.  Or worse still, no qualifications at all.  Whatever the adviser says his qualifications are, the client must be able to double check.

    You wouldn’t go to an unqualified solicitor would you?  So don’t use an unqualified financial adviser.  Being qualified goes hand in hand with being regulated.

  • Fighting pension scams: Regulation

    Fighting pension scams: Regulation

    Fighting pension scams: Regulation

    If it was easy to stop pension scams, everyone would be doing it.  Clearing up the mess left behind a pension scam is a huge challenge.  This is why clear international standards need to be recognised and adopted.  The scammers are like flocks of vultures.  If people only used regulated firms, they could avoid a lot of scams.

     

    Here is our list of standards

    1. Firm must be fully regulated – with licenses for insurance and investment advice
    2. Advisers must be qualified to the right standard
    3. Firm must have Professional Indemnity Insurance
    4. Clients must have comprehensive fact finds and risk profiles
    5. Firm must operate adequate compliance procedures
    6. Advisers must not abuse insurance bonds
    7. Clients must understand the investment policy
    8. All fees, charges and commissions must be disclosed
    9. Investors must know how their investments are performing
    10. Firm must keep a log of all customer complaints

    Why is regulation so important?:

    • If a firm sells insurance, it must have an insurance license.
    • If a firm gives investment advice, it must have an investment license.

    Many advisers will claim that if they only have an insurance license, they can advise on investments if an insurance bond is used.  This practice must be outlawed, because this is how so many scams happen.

    Most countries have an insurance and an investment regulator.  They provide licenses to firms.  Some regulators are better than others.  Most regulators do some research and only give licenses to decent firms.

    History tells us that most pension scams start with unlicensed firms.  Here are some examples:

    LCF Bond, Blackmore Bond, Blackmore Global Fund, LM, Axiom and Premier New Earth – all high risk failures.  The investors have lost some or all of their money in these bonds and funds.  They were mostly sold by advisers without an investment license.  Investors lost well over £1 billion.  Advisers (introducers) earned £millions in commissions.

     

    Continental Wealth Management invested 1,000 clients’ funds in high-risk structured notes.  Investors started with £100 million.  Most have lost at least half.  Some have lost everything.  Continental Wealth Management had no license from any regulator in any country.

     

    Pension Life blog - Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds - rogue advisersSerial scammers such as Peter Moat, Stephen Ward, Phillip Nunn, and XXXX XXXX  all ran unlicensed firms.  Peter Moat operated the Fast Pensions scam which cost victims over £21 million.  Stephen Ward operated the Ark, Evergreen, Capita Oak, Westminster and London Quantum pension scams which cost victims over £50 million.  XXXX XXXX operated the Trafalgar pension scam which cost victims over £21 million.

    Phillip Nunn operates the Blackmore Global Fund which has cost victims over £40 million.  Serial scammer David Vilka has been promoting this fund.  Over 1,000 people may have lost their pensions.

     

    Firms that give unlicensed advice are breaking the law.  Unlicensed advisers often use insurance bonds.  These bonds pay high commissions.  The funds these advisers use also pay high commissions.  The advisers get rich.  The clients get fleeced.  The funds get destroyed.  Insurance bonds such as OMI, FPI, SEB and Generali are full of worthless unregulated funds, bonds and structured notes.

     

    Unlicensed firms hide charges from their clients.  Most victims say they would never have invested had they known how expensive it was going to be.

    Hidden charges can destroy a fund – even without investment losses.  Licensed advisers normally disclose all fees and commissions up front.  This way, the client knows exactly how much the advice is going to cost.

     

    People can avoid being victims of pension scammers.  Using properly regulated firms is one way.   An advisory firm should have both an insurance license and an investment license.  Don’t fall for the line: “we don’t need an investment license if we use an insurance bond”.  Bond providers such as OMI, FPI, SEB and Generali still offer high-risk investments.  The insurance bond provides zero protection.  And the bond charges will make investment losses much worse.

     

    YOU WOULDN’T USE AN UNLICENSED DOCTOR.

    SO DON’T USE AN UNLICENSED FINANCIAL ADVISER.

     

     

  • Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds – rogue advisers

    Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds – rogue advisers

    Pension Life Bog - Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds - rogue advisersPension Life blog - Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds - rogue advisersThe 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 wrote a blog about the survey, ‘Shining light on pension scams.‘ He wrote:

    “Another significant concern was member awareness of advice. PSIG stated, after they found in almost half (49 per cent) of cases, the member had limited understanding or appeared to be unaware who was providing the advice, the fees being charged, or the receiving scheme to which the transfer would be made.”

     

    A lack of understanding of the way the financial industry works is something that the scammers play on.

    Pension Life blog - Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds - rogue advisers

    Many of our blogs here at Pension Life focus on getting information across to the public. You owe it to yourself to understand how the pension system works. This understanding will empower you and your money, protecting it from the scammers. We provide the platform for this information, you just need to read it.

    However, time and time again we find we hit brick walls when sharing information.

    Our blogs are shared on lots of social media networks. I find in many cases – especially on Facebook – that the links to our blogs will get deleted after the admins refuse to approve them. Some readers state that the blogs we write about expat scams are not relevant to expat issues.

    We have been told that our blogs which highlight what questions to ask your adviser are of a commercial and marketing nature. Yet in none of our blogs do we try to sell anything – we just offer knowledge and warnings about how to safeguard your pension.

    When met with this negativity, how do we get the information out there? How do we educate the public?

    Future unaware victims need to know what to look out for and how to avoid a scam. Otherwise, the cycle will continue. The scammers will outsmart the public and they will continue to get rich off the ignorance of the public. And the victims will continue to see their life savings vanish.

    As the saying goes, “ignorance is bliss”. However, if the ignorance leads to you signing your life savings over to a rogue financial adviser – whose only interest is purloining as much of your fund as possible – ignorance is in fact negligence.

    Pension Life blog - Lack of knowledge leads to loss of funds - rogue advisersYou may think you can trust a financial adviser, but we live in a world full of scammers and crooks – quite a few of which are financial advisers. Some of them are very greedy and will stop at nothing to fatten their bank balance at your expense. They have no conscience when it comes to living a lavish lifestyle funded from another’s grim fate.

    At school, they teach us about history, geography, maths and more. There is no subject about how to look after your money. Basic education on how to look after our pennies or how to finance our future is not included in the curriculum.

    Knowledge is important when it comes to your finances.

    I can honestly say that before I started this job, I knew very little about pensions and how they work. I simply knew that a pension was something you get when you are ‘old’.

    But ‘old’ comes round too quickly. Whilst working hard, building, saving and living your life. Time flies by.

    It is all too easy for a rogue adviser to contact you out of the blue about a

    “free pension review” and lure you into a scam.

    At Pension Life, we are dedicating our time and words to help educate and inform you about pensions. Our blogs are full of information about scams, what questions to ask when transferring your pension and how to avoid falling victim to a scam.

    Make sure you know what questions to ask your IFA.

    Above all else – safeguard your pension from the scammers.

    Don’t spend your life saving for your future, just to let a rogue adviser snatch it away and spend it on theirs.

    We have put together ten essential standards that we believe every financial adviser and their firm should adhere to. Make sure you read the blog and ensure your financial adviser can meet these standards. If he can´t – find one that can.

     

  • Raising standards – financial advisers and qualifications

    Raising standards – financial advisers and qualifications

    I read an interesting article recently which has prompted this blog, written by Blair duQuesnay, CFA®, CFP® – an investment adviser at Ritholtz Wealth Management, LLC. Blair suggests that the most important change needed in the financial industry is qualifications. Poorly qualified advisers give poor investment advice. Bad investments advice leads to loss of funds.

    Blair has said one thing that underpins all the work we do at Pension Life:

    “The bar to hold oneself out as a financial advisor is low, shockingly low. This is all the more shocking because the stakes are so high. Clients have only one chance to save and invest for retirement. If bad advice leads to the unnecessary loss of capital, there is no time to start over.”

    Read Blair’s piece here:

    http://blairbellecurve.com/substance/?fbclid=IwAR1or8YzCkxUNh_M5-o9e7WngaYJXXV_vjyWI92ZjXEXqG5x9DWzJMA8rgc

    I have written many times in the past about unqualified financial advisers, leading victims blindly into wholly unsuitable investments. These unqualified “snake-oil salesmen” often put most (or sometimes all) of their clients funds into unregulated, toxic, illiquid, no-hoper rubbish which has high commissions for the broker to earn but leave the pension or investment portfolio with an unrecoverable dent.

    If investors are unsure about what qualifications an adviser needs to give advice on investments then please have a read of this blog: “Qualified or not qualified? That is the question”

    Pension Life Blog - Raising standards - financial advisers and qualificationsBlair (pictured) talks about substance and the need for higher standards among financial advisers.  Whilst I love her thoughts, I know how difficult this might be to achieve. We see wholly unqualified scammers posing as fully qualified IFAs time and time again. These scammers are very good at acting the part and the victims have no idea they are dealing with a fraudster – and sometimes go on for years believing they are dealing with a proper financial adviser.

    When accepting financial advice always ask the ‘adviser’ what financial qualifications they have. If it transpires they are not fully qualified to give investment or pension advice – walk away and find someone who is.

    Blair’s words highlight this issue perfectly, stating, “What sort of education, credentials, and work experience do these people have? It depends. You cannot tell which type of firm, business model, or regulatory space in which they operate or if they have the right training and qualifications to give financial advice. One broker is a CFA charterholder, while another down the hall had three weeks of sales training and took the Series 7.”

    Often the best scammers are the ones with the sales training – they know how to push the ‘hard sell’, make the victim think they are ‘missing out’ if they don’t sign straight away. In offshore firms – especially – we see job adverts for new ‘financial advisers’, which state that they are looking for people with sales backgrounds. All too often there is no mention of the necessity of a financial services background, let alone any financial qualifications. Often guys that used to sell cars or holiday apartments will end up selling pension transfers. These are the ones you definitely want to avoid.

    Blair goes on to say, “There’s a common phrase that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Working a 40-hour week with no holidays or vacation, that takes almost five years. I would argue this number is low. I practice ashtanga yoga, a method that adds one new posture when the previous one is mastered. I spent over four years on the same posture. In that daily work of making tiny incremental progress toward the end goal, I overcame fears, corrected weaknesses, and powered through with pure determination. That is substance.”

    Blair highlights that we live in a time of instant gratification and almost laziness in regards to making money. From multi-million-pound Youtubers, rich from being stupid in videos, to big-bottomed rich girls selling their life stories to become famous – it is all about obtaining difficult things easily.

    Twenty-first-century living is driven by the need for wealth and the need for that wealth to be earned FAST!

    These desires are what the scammers use to their advantage.  They tell their victims that their funds will be placed in high-return investments. Investments that will easily add great value to their pension fund, meaning they will be able to have a lavish retirement.

    The thought of possibly doubling your pension fund in just ten years can seem like something of a dream come true. AND, unfortunately, a dream is usually what this is. Placing your funds in supposedly high-return investments – ALWAYS – means taking a high-risk.

    Whilst some high-risk investments do pay off, they are no place for a pension fund – life savings are what people are depending on to keep them in their later years. A pension fund is not a fund to be risked: it should be placed in a broad spectrum of liquid, low-to-medium risk investments. Maybe a small proportion could go into a higher-risk investment but only if the investor’s risk profile says he is comfortable with that degree of risk.  Most people – even high-net-worth clients – don’t want to lose ANY money.

    A trustworthy and fully qualified financial adviser would know this and he would ensure the advice he gives you is in your best interests – not his. The unqualified salesman giving “advice”, will usually opt for the fund that gives the highest commissions.  He can walk away with a fat wallet (probably never to be seen again) and the bleak future of your pension fund is not something he will lose sleep over. But you will, when the high-risk investment in which your entire fund is trapped starts to rapidly lose value.

    If the gentle reader doubts these dire warnings, just look at the facts about investment losses that we highlighted in a recent blog:

    Who killed the pension? Scammers; ceding providers; introducers; HMRC?

    £236,000,000 London Capital & Finance fund (bond), but also:

    £120,000,000 Axiom Legal Financing Fund

    £456,000,000 LM Group of Funds

    £207,000,000 Premier Group of Funds

    £94,000,000 Leonteq structured notes

    Without stating the blooming obvious, that is well over one billion pounds’ worth of AVOIDABLE losses – and still just the tip of the iceberg.

    Blair finishes her article by saying, “We owe it to our future clients to raise the bar. People deserve the reassurance that the person giving investment advice on their life savings has a baseline of knowledge. Until then, clients must continue to do their research on advisors. Look for those who have put in the time to learn their craft and have degrees and credentials to prove it. Often these are not the best salespeople, but at least these advisers have substance behind them.”

    What a lovely finish and what a very important statement. Financial advisers are not salesmen, they are financial advisers. Their work should be conducted in a way that best suits the needs of the individual – each individual, separately. And there is one way and one way only to invest a client’s money: do a proper, thorough, professional risk assessment and then invest strictly in accordance with that the resulting risk profile.

    Slow, steady and fully qualified financial advice always wins the race.

  • Generali – jumping ship to avoid new regulations?

    Generali – jumping ship to avoid new regulations?

    Pension Life Blog - Generali jumping shipThe mis-selling of life assurance policies and long-term savings plans has been a regular topic in our blogs.  Many victims of pension scams see their funds mis-invested into life assurance policies. These life assurance policies do little more than drain the fund value with their expensive fees and costs.

    Generali has for years been aggressively peddling these toxic products.  Interestingly, they have just pulled their contractual savings plans – Vision and Choice – from the UAE market.  Interesting and attractive names for profoundly ugly, expensive and destructive products.

    We have to wonder if all the negative press surrounding Generali’s life assurance bonds has anything to do with it? Since 2016 there has been a huge rise in complaints surrounding the mis-selling of these products. With huge, concealed start-up costs, the funds rarely ever reach their original investment amount, let alone make a gain.

    Furthermore, there has been a third push on regulations to improve how savings, investment and life insurance policies are sold. AND the Spanish insurance regulator (DGS) just confirmed that all such products sold in Spain have been done so illegally But Mr Vitiello of Generali claimed their decision to stop selling the Vision and Choice products in the Emirates was not linked to the new regulations. REALLY?!?!

    Reported by The National. ae, Generali’s Marco Vitiello stated:

    “We will not be accepting any new business applications for our current unit-linked saving products,” said Vitiello – General Manager of Generali’s Dubai branch. “There will be no impact at all to existing clients and contracts. They will continue to be serviced in the same manner as before.”  In other words, they will just keep on losing money, being tied in for an unacceptable length of time and paying extortionate charges.

    This is not the only big change Generali has made this month. The National.ae also reported that:

    “Generali’s decision to stop distributing its contractual savings plans in the UAE came less than a week after the company sold its entire shareholding in its unit, Generali Worldwide Insurance, to the Guernsey-based Utmost Group”

    We wrote about the proposed merger between Generali and Utmost Group back in August 2018.

    Pension Life Blog - Generali - jumping ship to avoid new regulations?

    The Utmost Group now has over £33bn in assets under administration and over 240,000 customers. We can only hope that customers of The Utmost Group will not become victims of mis-sold life assurance policies like the ones of Generali.

    Generali was one of the culprits involved in the huge Continental Wealth Management pension scam, which saw as many as 1,000 victims, invested into high-risk, toxic, professional-investor-only structured notes.

    Whilst the bulk of the victims were placed into OMI bonds, at least 25 (but probably nearer 100) of the victims were placed into Generali bonds by the scammers. The sum total of 25 pension funds invested into these toxic insurance bonds was a whopping £6,314,672. The losses on this amount are calculated to be approximately £3,604,528.

    One victim invested £793,612 and has just £62,703 left! Losing a massive £730,909.

    Another victim invested £142,626 and has lost £90,618! Leaving him with a fund of just £52,028.

    Please note these figures are correct as at 2017/2018, so today’s value is now even lower. Despite the funds’ huge decrease in value, Generali continues to take their fees (based on the original amount deposited – not the current depleted value). Therefore, these amounts will continue to fall AND despite the massive loses be locked in for a fixed term.

    It is, of course, a relief to know that they have decided to stop peddling these toxic, inappropriate bonds to victims. But we can’t help wondering why Generali have suddenly done this and really feel for those already caught up in these bogus “life” policies. Seems to us Generali are jumping ship to avoid the new regulations. With sudden revelations that maybe they should have checked all the details just a little bit more – and declined to take business from unregulated scammers.

    As Generali are busy making changes and sales, we can only hope that compensating the victims of the CWM scam is on their to-do list. As they have sold their entire shareholdings, you might think that an honest firm would want to make right the wrongs they have done.

     

    Not only did Generali allow these 25 victims to be put into wholly inappropriate funds and high-risk structured notes, but these investment instructions were also accepted from unregulated advisers. The scammers were paid high commissions by Generali and there is no sign of any remorse for the huge losses suffered by the victims.

    What we do know is that victims are now preparing their complaints against Generali and CWM. The DGS has found that there is no doubt that the regulations of sale surrounding these products were breached by Generali.

    Generali are not the only life office guilty of financial crimes: Old Mutual International and SEB were even worse – facilitating losses on a massive scale in the Continental Wealth Management case.  OMI bought £94,000,000 worth of ultra-high-risk structured notes for retail investors – resulting in huge losses.  Old Mutual was also heavily involved in more than £1,000,000,000 worth of losses in the Axiom, LM and Premier investment scams.

    Seems it is no accident that “Generali” is an anagram of “Liar Gene”.

     

     

    .