sipps help

pootle71

Can any of the good people of the forum give me abit of help/advice as reading some of the posts on here i`m now properly confused and that does`nt take much doing!!
Last wk i was contacted by a lady from Alternative pension investments asking whether i`d like to see one of their people about my pensions for a review on how they`re performing,fast forward to friday morning and the chap arrives,looks at the paperwork for my pensions then starts on about sipps and alternative investments and how "if i do this(drawing diagrams to illustrate) with this amount then it`ll make this much then that can be reinvested to make more as well as talking about where the money will be invested and what hmrc allow etc etc,by now i`m starting to feel well out of my depth and more than abit confused.When the chap left decided to do some internet research and found their website and also that the top investment is an apartment complex on the cape verde islands which is not yet finished but is also owned by another construction/investment group,now i`m really in a quandry about whether to leave my pensions as they are(with no contributions currently being paid in) or to go with this alternative, apologies for rambling on and many thanks if you`ve taken the time to read this and any help/advice will be very much appreciated.
CHEERS

Aegis

pootle71 wrote: »

Can any of the good people of the forum give me abit of help/advice as reading some of the posts on here i`m now properly confused and that does`nt take much doing!!
Last wk i was contacted by a lady from Alternative pension investments asking whether i`d like to see one of their people about my pensions for a review on how they`re performing,fast forward to friday morning and the chap arrives,looks at the paperwork for my pensions then starts on about sipps and alternative investments and how "if i do this(drawing diagrams to illustrate) with this amount then it`ll make this much then that can be reinvested to make more as well as talking about where the money will be invested and what hmrc allow etc etc,by now i`m starting to feel well out of my depth and more than abit confused.When the chap left decided to do some internet research and found their website and also that the top investment is an apartment complex on the cape verde islands which is not yet finished but is also owned by another construction/investment group,now i`m really in a quandry about whether to leave my pensions as they are(with no contributions currently being paid in) or to go with this alternative, apologies for rambling on and many thanks if you`ve taken the time to read this and any help/advice will be very much appreciated.
CHEERS

These alternatives are high risk and usually unregulated. There is no reason why your pensions should be reinvested into such a scheme. In any case, legitimate authorised advisers do not cold call out of the blue to tout for business. Make no mistake, this is not how legitimate advisers operate, nor is there any reason to suggest that "apartment complexes in cape verde" are in any way a good investment for a UK pension policyholder.

For your own sake, I suggest walking away.

dunstonh

Last wk i was contacted by a lady from Alternative pension investments asking whether i`d like to see one of their people about my pensions for a review on how they`re performing

They are not authorised to give advice on how your existing pensions are performing. There is no company of that name on the FSA register.

now i`m really in a quandry about whether to leave my pensions as they are(with no contributions currently being paid in) or to go with this alternative

The alternative is a non-regulated investment sold to you by someone who is not authorised to give advice in the UK and therefore you would have no consumer protection.

If I was to say you to that you are being encouraged by someone without UK authorisation to put you into an experienced investor product which is high risk and without any consumer protection or FSCS protection would you consider it? I suspect not.

If you want a review of your pension then use a local IFA. Find your nearest at https://www.unbiased.co.uk and do a postcode search. Your nearest ones will be shown.

Linton

AP Investments Ltd was set up and their website created in October 2011.

Checking their website...

They have a tame IFA who will carry out the assessment of the existing pension. Then their "consultant" will review the IFAs identification of your poor performing investments with you and suggest alternative investments that can fix the problem. When you are happy that you have the right strategy, the suitability of the SIPP is assessed by the IFA (it reads like its the SIPP that is assessed rather than the investments going into it). Everything is then sorted to your wishes by the IFA and SIPP Trustee. It reads like they are trying to avoid actually advising you on these investments - it's all your responsibility.

Apart from the hotel rooms in the Cape Verde Islands AP Investments can also provide investments in diamonds and commercial land in Spain prior to the granting of planning permission. All very high risk in areas where scams are not unknown and where anyone who isnt a real expert could easily lose all their money.

Unless you are extremely wealthy and willing to take a double or quits punt on a very small % of your riches I would suggest that you dont go down this route.

kidmugsy

Are you familiar with the cliche about bargepoles?

pootle71

Many thanks to the good people who replied,your advice has been taken on board and confirmed what i was starting to suspect and you`ve saved me from making a grave error of judgement, i will not be taking up any offers from this company,i will however be seeking the advice of a local IFA,once again many thanks,
CHEERS:T