'Guaranteed 12% return' on investment

Bravepants

lpgm wrote: »

You could try to explain to them that because they now have 'a lot of money', there's simply no need to go after eye-catching returns that may or may not be real.

Indeed. And another word for that is "greed", and we know what happens to greedy people in the end!

londoninvestor

I'd say this investment does indeed provide a guarantee - or very close to one.

99% odds that your friends will lose all the money they put into this.

amblonia

I love that word 'guaranteed'. In this particular case, I'd say it's absolutely guaranteed.....to lose.

Voyager2002

Aretnap wrote: »

I'm immediately suspicious. Do you mean St James's PLACE Wealth Management, a reputable(ish) wealth management firm? Or do you mean some other company with a similar name, perhaps designed for give an air of respectability by sounding like a genuine firm - and to be difficult to Google?

As above , the general view on here is that SJP are an old fashioned company charging a lot for the type of service they iffer... but I'd be very surprised if they'd started shilling for such obviously dubious investment schemes as hotel room with 'guaranteed 'returns.

I had some dealings with the genuine St James' Place (my late father used them and I was the executor of his will) and carefully examined their full range of products. I am confident that they do not offer anything like the scheme in question.


So I would tell the friends that if the "advisor" they are seeing works for a body that spoofs the name of a well-known and reputable firm, that further suggests that this investment is a very bad idea.

Beenie

An update.

Our friends met the advisor in a posh London hotel They didn't think it odd that he didn't have his own office premises......

It wasn't St James as they first told us, it is another name but totally unmemorable. His business model is to borrow a third from the banks, a third from people like my friends and the rest he puts up by himself. He then buys hotels and watches the profits roll in (he said).

Thankfully the friends have taken notice of what we and others have said urging the utmost caution, and have walked away.

Reaper

A lucky escape I think. It's a shame you don't have the name or we might have been able to see what presence they have on the internet (Companies House etc).

Clive_Woody

Beenie wrote: »

An update.

Our friends met the advisor in a posh London hotel They didn't think it odd that he didn't have his own office premises......

It wasn't St James as they first told us, it is another name but totally unmemorable. His business model is to borrow a third from the banks, a third from people like my friends and the rest he puts up by himself. He then buys hotels and watches the profits roll in (he said).

Thankfully the friends have taken notice of what we and others have said urging the utmost caution, and have walked away.

Shame they didn't get a copy of the business plan that he presents to banks to convince them to invest a third of the cost for his hotel investment. I would have been very interested in seeing a copy of this document...and details of which banks have invested so far in this sure fire winner :beer:

badger09

Beenie wrote: »

An update.

Our friends met the advisor in a posh London hotel They didn't think it odd that he didn't have his own office premises......

It wasn't St James as they first told us, it is another name but totally unmemorable. His business model is to borrow a third from the banks, a third from people like my friends and the rest he puts up by himself. He then buys hotels and watches the profits roll in (he said).

Thankfully the friends have taken notice of what we and others have said urging the utmost caution, and have walked away.

What could possibly go wrong:p

webjaved

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Your friends are being ripped off they will lose all their money. Its as simple as that.
No one reputable could or would "guarantee" 12% or anywhere near it.
Tell them this then walk away.

Nailed it. :T

dealer_wins

A classic example of a fraudster at work. Its a shame so many people fall victim to scams like these, but I guess greed is a powerful emotion and overrides common sense too often!