Losing thousands £££ Fast! Where to invest?

chookie1

suzieemm wrote: »

Hi all,



We keep being told to hold fast, sit tight and the valuation will rise and it is only a 'paper' loss.

Your IFA also deserves a good kicking for saying it's "only a paper loss". A loss is a loss is a loss.

poppy10_2

There looks to be a strong case for sueing the IFA for mis-selling.

greenface

Still disappointed to the IFAs who are regulars here. If OP has problems with a bank selling them duff . Im sure there would be more help and comments from them. Any info RE where to go or what to do to start a complaint for mis or bad selling would be helpful.

westy69

Hi, as has been said above the first thing to do is check your suitability letter, if you dont still have that your IFA will have a copy, check what wording is used regarding your attidude to risk this is important if you are going to complian to the FOS.
Then check with AXA how they class that fund risk wise it is usualy on a scale of 1-7 or 1-10 they will tell you over the phone how they class it, do the 2 things match ie your risk profile and the rating?

TH1878

Suzie,

Whatever you decide, I would urge you to switch the fund out of the Property fund into cash until you make a decision. Axa had imposed a redemption period on their Property funds so any decision to switch would be delayed by 6 months - I'm not sure whether this still applies to your fund or not, but would be worth checking out. My personal opinion is that property still has a way to fall and won't see significant recovery until the end of 2010 or early 2011.

Regarding your investment spread, you would really need to ascertain your indvidual attitude to risk, what you require the money for and the timescale you're looking at. I'd go further that Steffenni1971 and say that you should only be looking at equities for timescales of 5 years or more (I remember reading that equities are 75% more likely to outperform cash over this period, 99% over 18 years).

I'm only making an assumption but I suspect your IFA had quite a bit of success with property only investments previous to advising you. This worked when property prices were going through the roof (and an easy sale for him) but your case shows the dangers of single area investing.

I would never advise clients to invest solely in one fund, with the exception of a multi-asset fund (which I've never used thus far). You should be looking at a mix of investments however (corporate bonds / gilts / equities) and across different geographical regions to diversify your portfolio and negate some of the risk.

Regarding recourse, you can't complain because your investments have gone down but you can complain (initially to your IFA then to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you don't get a successful response) if the advice you received was unsuitable. I would suspect (anecdotally) that the investment was not suitable to your risk profile but couldn't confirm this.

Hope this helps

TH1878

hedger

I would move it all to cash and discuss ur new options with an IFA (I have done something very similar recently). there is good scope to recover a lot of the "lost" money over the next few years imo but you would need to invest wisely this time and spread the risk

srg751

sorry to hear about your losses suzie,
it's incomprehesible to imagine an ifa advising you to put all your money in any one fund. However, if it is any consolation iv,e lost 34% of a very diversified portfolio. I am afraid if you are looking for any assurances with regard to positive returns you would be as well advised by a clairvoyent as an ifa at the moment. Im'e afraid we are all asking the same questions!!!!

Newly_retired

My IFA advised me to get out of AXA in early 2007!! Not sure now but don't think it was just property though, and nowhere near as much invested.
Sorry to hear of your plight and hope you get some good advice.