Friendly Bond Forester Life was Children's Mutual

Malthusian

For the OP to have paid in at least £4,200 into the newer bond and have a cash-in value of £3,517 after a 7 year bull market is pretty shocking. Even if that's after a surrender penalty / market value reduction.

Whether there is a complaint is highly doubtful. The OP says that a financial adviser came to see them in 2004 but it sounds like the 2010 investment was made without any advice or sales pitch. So no misselling could have taken place in regard to the 2010 bond, the OP made their own decision.

The OP told the adviser they wanted minimum risk in 2004 and that investment hasn't lost money by today's cash-in value so there's no cause for complaint there.

The illustrations are irrelevant and are likely to be taking inflation into account. If this is the case, they are not projecting a "paper loss", only a loss after inflation, and the OP confirmed they didn't care about losing money to inflation when they asked for minimum risk.

jonnym6

The 2010 investment was made after taking advice from the same financial adviser - who has now retired and his company defunct - this is where we believe we were poorly advised - all along we made it clear that we wanted minimal risk and would not have invested were we aware we would return less than invested.

We are now debating whether to cash in the 2x£50 a month investments and at a loss - fearing a further loss after brexit trading conditions - and investing the money in various isas and no risk savings accounts to make up the loss.

dunstonh

all along we made it clear that we wanted minimal risk

Which you have with that fund. Its a low growth/low risk fund.

We are now debating whether to cash in the 2x£50 a month investments and at a loss - fearing a further loss after brexit trading conditions - and investing the money in various isas and no risk savings accounts to make up the loss.

Acting on example projections is not a good idea. And those no risk savings accounts will never make up any loss from doing this and you will suffer inflation risk and shortfall risk. Risks more likely to happen.

AnotherJoe

Your highly conservative "no risk" requirements are what are biting you in the posterior. Why didn't you you just put the money in savings accounts if you want "no risk". Anything else, by definition must have risk.

Brexit is an irrelevance to the returns.

RS1969

I've been reading your thread, and sympathise totally with your predicament.
I realise I'm not the only one who took out this disaster of an investment.
I still have the Boots brochure and key features document from 2004, nowhere does it say that the amount at maturity could be worth less than the amounts invested.

Decided to invest £10 a month since my nephew's 1st Birthday, he's now 16, and my brother said the cheque is £1700. Total amount invested £1820.
Phoned ombudsman, was told that because i was not given advice, this is an "execution only" investment, and basically it's 'caveat emptor'. Would definitely have been better to open a building society account in my own name, and pay £10 a month in to it. It would have grown with interest, even after tax, and I could have then taken out a cheque for about £1850.

Apparently there is no recourse for this type of investment.

Phil65

My daughters Junior Bond has just matured. £25 a month over 12 years for a total investment of £3600.  Maturity value £3304.73.  It paid a bonus once, about £20 ten years ago and there was an extra amount added when the fund transferred to Foresters. 
This is the sort of product that gives financial services a bad name.  Obviously very little management and to only return just over 90% of investment over 12 years is verging on incompetence.  However the really sad thing here is that a child that was born 1 month before the Child Trust Funds were introduced could not take out the same plan as her two siblings.  Whereas their investments have done well my daughter has to be content with a very poor return.
Nuff said, just very dissapointed.