SIPP investment in Property

popeyesailor

Hi,

I have come across a SIPP investment opportunity that almost sounds to good to be true. This is the reason I am very reluctant to invest any of my underperforming pensions.
The company is called Dolphin Capital and the investment returns 12% per annum. The investment will be in Germany in listed buldings. The company claims to buy property under the market value and then build appartments (only the facade is listed) and sells the apartments off plan, which has a significant tax benefit for the buyer.
The compounded return over 5 years if invested £100,000 will pay £176,234, which they claimed to be garanteed. These numbers are much better than any of my pensions have given me over the last 10 years.

Has any body come across this investment opportunity and if so is this a legitimate investment opportunity. Also if any body can advise how I can check whether this is not a scam.

Any feedback comments are appreciated.

Aegis

popeyesailor wrote: »

Hi,

I have come across a SIPP investment opportunity that almost sounds to good to be true. This is the reason I am very reluctant to invest any of my underperforming pensions.
The company is called Dolphin Capital and the investment returns 12% per annum. The investment will be in Germany in listed buldings. The company claims to buy property under the market value and then build appartments (only the facade is listed) and sells the apartments off plan, which has a significant tax benefit for the buyer.
The compounded return over 5 years if invested £100,000 will pay £176,234, which they claimed to be garanteed. These numbers are much better than any of my pensions have given me over the last 10 years.

Has any body come across this investment opportunity and if so is this a legitimate investment opportunity. Also if any body can advise how I can check whether this is not a scam.

Any feedback comments are appreciated.

Walk away. This sounds like a classic unregulated style investment very similar to a number of others that have gone very wrong in recent years.

GhIFA

popeyesailor wrote: »

Hi,

I have come across a SIPP investment opportunity that almost sounds to good to be true.

That's because it is. Walk away.

Annisele

I agree with the others; that's classic unregulated collective investment scheme (UCIS) territory. It may not be an out-an-out scam - but it's very likely an extremely bad idea that'll just make commission/fees for other people.

UCIS shouldn't be marketed to the general public, so if this is one I'm concerned about how you've managed to "come across" it. If an adviser asks you to sign anything before you're allowed to see the product details, get a new adviser.

It probably is guaranteed - but that doesn't mean the guarantee is for the benefit of the investors, or that the company providing the guarantee has the financial resources to stump up.

dunstonh

I have come across a SIPP investment opportunity that almost sounds to good to be true.

Which probably means it is. Property marketing in SIPPs is woefully bad. They can get away with saying things that conventional investments cannot say.

This is the reason I am very reluctant to invest any of my underperforming pensions.

Why do you think they are underperforming?

The compounded return over 5 years if invested £100,000 will pay £176,234, which they claimed to be garanteed.

guaranteed in the unregulated world is very different to guaranteed in the regulated world.

mania112

Shares in direct offshore property investments are unregulated.

Secondly, you don't want all your eggs in one basket, especially a basket like you're suggesting.

Steer clear, if it sounds to good to be true, it is.

You (almost certainly) will lose a lot of money in this.

lozzy1965

I have been offered this exact same investment, and I am very very cautious. I sent this link to the broker who is pushing the investment from "Natural Resources Capital". Any comments on this company gratefully received. This is his response:

"Two points were immediately prevalent in the assessment in the comments produced by the independent financial " advisers". Firstly, they based their conclusions on assumptions and have not researched the project and made an informed decision. Secondly, their main concern was that this is an UCIS."

"To address the first point, it is clear that any decision based upon assumptions is in all likelihood going to be factually inaccurate and incorrect. I am making an assumption there myself but I would welcome a more thorough assessment by them at any stage. They can reach me on the contact details below.
Secondly, this is a loan note and is therefore not an UCIS. This just goes back to the first point about researching key aspects before making a decision."

These are his contact details, which he said he is happy to be contacted on:

David Hall
St. Clements House
27-28 Clements Lane
London
EC4N 7AE
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)207 002 1850
Email: info@naturalresourcescapital.net

He is telling me this is a good, safe investment for me to diversify money from my Share portfolio into. I know and am confident with shares. i know nothing about Loan notes or this kind of investment. Any experts out there? Thanks.

SeniorSam

Your pension performance will be based on what investments have been selected by you or your adviser. Perhaps the selections have not been as good as could have been.

Don't trust this property venture as it will almost certainly fail.

Sam

dunstonh

He is telling me this is a good, safe investment for me to diversify money from my Share portfolio into.

No consumer protection. Unconventional and unregulated. Not the sort of thing a typical UK consumer should go near.

Never trust a promoter on any product to give you unbiased advice. In unregulated areas, there is so little consumer protection that they can give you a load of BS and you have virtually no protection against it. If an insurer was promoting an insurance company investment as being the best thing going would you think they are right? no. So, why do you think this unregulated promoter is?

Linton

I would not touch this with a bargepole.

1) The domain naturalresourcescapital.net was created in Feb 2013.
2) St Clements House offers virtual and managed offices - apparently 108 companies share the same postcode.
3) The company name seems to have been chosen to make it difficult to search for by Google. This does not seem to be a sensible marketing ploy.
4) The company was incorporated in March 2013

These do not give me confidence that this is a well established company with a solid track record.

5) Its website says:
"Natural Resources Capital Limited is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is not authorised to give any financial or investment advice. Commodities purchased via Natural Resources Capital Limited are either sold in physical form or is a contractual purchase of property and accordingly is not required to be regulated by the FCA. As such there would not be any access to the Financial Services Ombudsman or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)."

So if the investments are not what you believed them to be or the company is unable to repay the loan you are on your own without a pension.

6) They appear to cold call - see here . Reputable investment companies do not do this.

lozzy1965

Dunstonh, thanks for your comments. The broker says that this is NOT unregulated, as it is a Loan Note. Any comment on this? Thanks.

Linton, very valid comments re the youth of the company. I'm not tempted by this unless it is a safe as buying and selling shares on the London Stock Market. The FCA comments: Obviously not good to NOT have this assurance. Would one expect this for Loan Notes. I don't know much about Loan Notes, just that they are a Loan to the company, which (is expected to) be repaid at the end of a period of time, and in this case, if the deal goes horribly wrong, the Loan Note holders are FIRST in line to get paybacks.
All comments gratefully received by me and others who might have had similar calls!