Pension Investment - Harlequin Property??

Look_at_the_facts

It's simply amazing how people in glass houses are lobbing bricks at everyone else! Pension trustees are culpable - why did they issue cheques to companies, on behalf of members, without any previous financial due diligence? Because they didn't think they had to? None of them understand trust law then. Hiding behind FSA didn't tell them they had to is scant consolation to those that will loose their pots if Harlequin is a Ponzi.

IFA's - have yet again blighted their so-called profession by getting caught with their fingers in the commission till, without doing their job. And yet they think they retain the high moral ground & anything official, other than a fee-based regulated instrument is dodgy? No. It's only the investor compensation schemes that doesn't cover them that's different. They have been involved in every scandal going on and all those that went on in the UK, haven't they? Or do they just profess to have always thought it was dodgy and never went near it but we only hear about their "knowledge" after the event & when they are using it to try & promote their alternatives?

The best advice is don't take any from an IFA because there aren't any. They're not independent and they rarely give any "advice" that produces any more than huge charges, commission-related or not they use products with insurance companies, Fund managers and banks and their annual fee's WILL cost you a significant portion of your fund. they don't tell you this because they won't be able to charge you an ongoing fee for the future "management" of the fund, which they picked by chasing rainbows in the first place.

There is a very good reason why they are regulated - because they need to be.

Sadly, in this country Disclosure requirements (the bare minimum) is taken by IFA's as telling the truth. And "advice" is what FSA rules will allow them to say and "comply" with their rules. So, who is giving the advice? The government. Who is accountable? the guy who looses his money - because no one else cares. You might loose the entire deposit with schemes like Harlequin which will be the 30% deposit. IFAs will say it's a scam. What is the difference between losing a £30k deposit on a £100,000 property and an IFA disowning responsibility for their part in your equity investment £100k dropping by more than 30%? That would need to grow back by nearly 50% just to reach par! Oh, that's right, IFAs say the other one is a scam! Unbelievable.

SG27

There's been loads about this company in the local paper over years.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/10269316.Police_and_Serious_Fraud_Office_investigating_Harlequin_Property/

dunstonh

IFA's - have yet again blighted their so-called profession by getting caught with their fingers in the commission till, without doing their job.

There is no commission. Plus, its not IFAs recommending these. The people that do these schemes are unregulated.

And yet they think they retain the high moral ground & anything official, other than a fee-based regulated instrument is dodgy? No.

There is nothing wrong with unregulated schemes if the person involved has the capacity for loss and knowledge of understanding to go into these higher risk schemes. And assuming the scheme is legal.

The best advice is don't take any from an IFA because there aren't any.

Best advice is probably to ignore you as you dont appear to know what you are talking about.

They're not independent and they rarely give any "advice" that produces any more than huge charges, commission-related or not they use products with insurance companies, Fund managers and banks and their annual fee's WILL cost you a significant portion of your fund. they don't tell you this because they won't be able to charge you an ongoing fee for the future "management" of the fund, which they picked by chasing rainbows in the first place.

What a complete load of rubbish.

There is a very good reason why they are regulated - because they need to be.

Yet IFAs manage to handle over 75% of regulated pension transactions but only account for 1% of complaints at the FOS and most of those are rejected. The FOS even commending IFAs back in November for their record keeping justifying the advice.

Come back when you have something sensible to say.

mania112

Look_at_the_facts wrote: »

Sadly, in this country Disclosure requirements (the bare minimum) is taken by IFA's as telling the truth. And "advice" is what FSA rules will allow them to say and "comply" with their rules. So, who is giving the advice? The government. Who is accountable? the guy who looses his money - because no one else cares. You might loose the entire deposit with schemes like Harlequin which will be the 30% deposit. IFAs will say it's a scam. What is the difference between losing a £30k deposit on a £100,000 property and an IFA disowning responsibility for their part in your equity investment £100k dropping by more than 30%? That would need to grow back by nearly 50% just to reach par! Oh, that's right, IFAs say the other one is a scam! Unbelievable.

The fact you can't spell 'lose' is really the least of your worries.

What on earth are you banging on about? Who/what has made you act and think this way?

If your brakes fail due to manufacturer fault, do you blame the mechanic?

What if those brakes were not tried and tested and the mechanic told you not to use them, but you demanded he installed them - who's fault is it when they fail?

Stephb1986_2

Please do not invest in this company things are going real bad now. There is a forum that has been set up by Harlequin Investors so they can contact each other etc

http://harlequininvestors.boards.net/index.cgi

mania112

I hear there's a Panorama episode about this but BBC had to pull it because of a dodgy scam going on with one of the 'experts'.

I kid you not.

Stephb1986_2

It's not a dodgy scam at all there are rumours that a member of the bbc supposedly bribed Mr Ames's bodyguard for information in return for a job.

No scam at all.

micksterdoodle

snowflake25 wrote: »

harlequinproperty.co.uk
My father has been given this company as a possible investment using money from his pension. I'm wondering if anyone has heard anything about them? I'm a believer in when something is too good to be true and this seems so. He's been advised 30% deposit paid from pension fund as deposit, property is a golf resort being built in St Lucia, when the complex is complete you then receive 50% of rental income (of which 30% has to be paid back in to pension fund), the other 50% taken in mortgage + maintenance fees. You are given the option to sell when the complex is built with the assumption that the property price will have gone up in value or you can continue to invest?
Any thoughts appreciated.

Hi. I almost got involved in this but pulled out in time when I found out about it going down like a sinking ship. My problem is that when I discussed the deal with the Agent at the time he spoke about a reservation fee of £1000. I told him that I didn't have £1000 to gamble with then he said the beauty of the deal was that I wouldn't have to pay it. I stupidly signed a slip of paper saying I would be liable if I decided to cancel. He told me at the time it was just to speed the process up and keep his bookkeeper happy. Now he is taking me to court as I refused to pay it to him. Has anyone else experienced this when discussing it with their agents. I would really appreciate some feedback. Thank you in advance.

Browntoa

Please don't reply to every single post in the thread with exactly the same text , once is enough