Fortress Bonds

Ian4665

There are adverts in the papers for "Fortress Bonds" from a company called Castle Trust offering good rates (e.g. 3.25% for three years) and with an apparent £50K FSCS protection. Does anyone know why does MSE not list such bonds in their tables or comment on their financial attraction?

Archi_Bald

The Castle Trust bonds aren't saving bonds - they are basically loans you can make to Castle Trust.

I'd read this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5030614

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/savings/11065151/Concerns-over-safety-of-2.25pc-savings-bond.html

and any other independent reviews you can find.

The reviews are a few months old and Castle Trust seems to have polished up their website and offerings but nothing has changed fundamentally since the above were written.

jimjames

Ian4665 wrote: »

There are adverts in the papers for "Fortress Bonds" from a company called Castle Trust offering good rates (e.g. 3.25% for three years) and with an apparent £50K FSCS protection. Does anyone know why does MSE not list such bonds in their tables or comment on their financial attraction?

Are you prepared for 100% loss? This isn't a savings account which is probably why it's not listed.

Most people are not and would invest in funds in S&S ISAs which are less risky than a loan to a single company.

masonic

Ian4665 wrote: »

...and with an apparent £50K FSCS protection.

This is a big warning sign that you are looking at a risk-based investment, rather than a cash deposit account (for which the FSCS protects £85k).

dunstonh

offering good rates (e.g. 3.25% for three years)

That isnt very good for a risk based option.

Does anyone know why does MSE not list such bonds in their tables or comment on their financial attraction?

MSE doesnt get involved with risk based investments (where loss of capital is posible). It sticks to savings accounts.

I suspect you are mixing up fixed term deposits with bonds. These bonds are not deposit based options.

jimjames

Using the name "Fortress" does make me wonder if it is a deliberate ploy to mislead investors into thinking it is safer and offers more protection than it does.

This isn't the first post thinking this is a savings product so there does seem to be a level of confusion around them and these are only the ones that have asked questions. I wonder how many who have actually invested realised what they have put money into. It's just a shame on all these posts that the OP never comes back to say what they thought they were putting money into.

badger09

Strange that Ian4665 didn't wait for any replies, nor apparently come back to read & comment on them :cool:

TCA

badger09 wrote: »

Strange that Ian4665 didn't wait for any replies, nor apparently come back to read & comment on them :cool:

You terrible cynic badger Next you'll be suggesting that Ian4665 and manninman are the same person.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5195042

Ian4665

Many thanks for the replies - well, most of them. I acknowledge the risk but with a £50K FSCS backup I did not rule out consideration of an investment. I will now look at this in more detail, including the links kindly provided. As to the bizarre reply from badger09, I only posted this yesterday (my first Forum post) and have just returned to see what replies , if any, had been made. I am afraid I do not sit at my computer all day and night, staring at the screen hoping for a response. Each to their own I suppose.

badger09

spooky :eek:

I wonder if manninman will also now return to comment