ABSL Umbrella Fund

oscar2005

In looking for a new home for for an investment I came across ABSL Umbrella Fund (absluk.com) offering fixed rate bonds at amazing interest rates of 3% for one year, 3.5% for 2 years, 4% for 3 years, 4.75% for 4 years and 5.5% for 5 years.
In each case the offer is a "guaranteed return, no hidden costs, Fully FCA regulated and protected by the FSCS". Is this as good and safe as it sounds and if so I wonder why none of the comparison sites, including Money Saving Expert, recommend this organisation in their "best fixed rate bonds" sections.
Help please!

ColdIron

Those rates are way too high, unrealistically high

The domain was registered 2020-01-13, contact in Nassau

Was mentioned recently in this thread, see post #12

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6092384/fixed-bonds

MarkCarnage

Dodgy, dodgy......

The wording on their website has scam all over it....

BSL Umbrella Fund have been established since 2014 and are an independently owned fund manager with over 100 years’ combined experience. We are primarily institutional fund managers but once a year to raise liquidity we offer the products on this website to retail investors. The products on this site are usually available to new clients for two Months each year. ABSL Umbrella Fund are regulated by the FCA which gives you, the depositor, the exact same protection and peace of mind as when depositing/investing with your high street bank. All the products offered by ABSL Umbrella Fund are fully protected by the FSCS in the UK.

ABSL Umbrella Fund are very focused on customer care and our personal approach is described as ‘refreshing’ by our retail depositors who are used to being passed from pillar to post by their bank. On top of this they are often bombarded with aggressive marketing. This aggressive marketing comes at quite a cost and is just one of many reasons why retail investors are offered so little returns by their banks. We have nowhere near the same overheads as your high street bank which means we can offer better returns. We like to see our ‘profit’ in maintaining long term customer relationships and satisfaction.


ABSL Umbrella Fund are long standing, well established and highly regarded fund managers. All funds historically outperform other investment vehicles because of the regular activity and many short positions held. ABSL Umbrella Fund’s annual goal will normally be between 10 and 20%, regardless of market conditions. Most funds (Including ours) will limit the number of depositors and require them to be fully accredited to get involved directly. This keeps the exclusivity but it can make it very difficult for retail investors to get involved. The products on this website are offered to retail investors for a limited time each year and are only available until we have reached the amount we look to raise.

Makes it sound like they are doing retail investors a favour.....established in 2014 but with over 100 years experience?

I worked in the institutional market for over 20 years and never heard of them.

They are FCA registered, but on a 'passport' from Dublin where they are based.

The so called fixed rate bonds seem to be used to provide working capital to their own business!! Can't believe that these are FSCS covered.

ColdIron

One thing to be wary of when doing your due diligence is the possibility of clone websites, those that purport to be legitimate companies but are unconnected

MarkCarnage

Good point re. clone websites, not sure about that to be honest in this case. Either way it is a case of not touching with a long bargepole.....

Reaper

I suspect this may be a clone scam as ColdIron suggests.

The web site links to the FCA registered for the Irish company:
"ABSL Umbrella UCITS Fund plc"

But they appear to be called just:
"ABSL Umbrella Fund"

The UK arm is registered at a different address (Euston House, Eversholt Street) which is a place that offers virtual offices. I cannot find "ABSL Umbrella" at Companies House and they don't show their company number on their web site which is a legal requirement.

The web site was created just 2 weeks ago.

While no single piece of evidence proves it is a scam the combination makes it look pretty likely.

jdanielw

I got in touch with ABSL after googling who offered the best 5 year fixed interest rate. Initially they seemed legitimate but later correspondence with them left me in doubt.
Having completed initial paperwork for them including forwarding authorised copy passport and bank statement from last 3 months, as you would expect to be requested to do, I then quickly received correspondence from their "Compliance Dept" on a different email address reading... "Everything is exactly as it should be and the account is now approved and open and awaiting funding. To complete you just need to follow the instructions below very carefully using the reason for payment as 'Transfer to own account' or 'services/invoice'......We also launched an offer in January for all new clients to receive £80 cashback which you now qualify for. I have deducted this from your total but the full £***** will of course show with interest in your on line account"

What was all that about??
It then went on to show my account name as Bravo SK

It continued to read...

"Due to the sheer number of applications this year I now need you to make an initial deposit of (less than the figure I was investing) which can be done on line and is usually free and instant. This will leave a balance of (remainder of total I was investing) which can follow the next day. This is the preferred method of payment for both the company and our clients"

I was then told to send a payment confirmation to them as soon as I had arranged the first deposit and then other payments could be made on following days.??

Why wasn't the transfer of money to be made in ONE transaction and to an account in MY name?? And, what's all that £80 cash back about ??

I'm no expert in these matters but should they not have a company registration number visible somewhere too?

Does any of this sound legit to you? Steer clear is my advice.

Reaper

Presumably splitting the payments over consecutive days are to avoid the bank querying why you are sending large sums to a new destination. Saying you are sending it to another of your accounts is a similar tactic.

Sending an authenticated copy of your passport was a mistake and you now need to beware of identity theft. Be very careful who you give your bank details to from now on.

I think it is now safe to declare this a scam.

When looking for fixed rates don't Google or use Facebook etc. Go to a well known site such as MSE and look at their best buy tables instead.

If you want investments rather than savings only buy regulated ones

Bacman

Indeed, jdanielw you have now made yourself at prime risk of identity theft.

Sign up to Experian, as not only will you get your financial report and know who knows what about your financial affairs but importantly they will email you when any searches are made to your name going forward (while you subscribe to their service), including applications made for accounts and credit. If your details are used fraudulently, at least then you can approach the companies who have been approached and tell them you are a victim of fraud; better that than leaving it to a lot of future issues.

It is good advice for anyone who is investing money, register for Experian; costs £6.99 a month so not cheap however is worth it as early-warning detection and also a better piece of mind.

All someone needs is 2 valid forms of id; ie passport and bank statement. Be scared, be wary.

Reaper

That's a good idea, If it were me I would register with Experian for maybe 1-2 years to see if they are taking out credit in your name, then stop if nothing has happened.

If fraud does start happening then there are steps you can take such as Protective Registration with CIFAS but I wouldn't suggest doing that unless it turns out to be necessary.

AnotherJoe

jdanielw wrote: »

I got in touch with ABSL after googling who offered the best 5 year fixed interest rate.

Just never do that. Never
Google are not your friend. They will happily show adverts from scammers as long as the scammers pay them.
Same for Facebook
Use reputable websites like this and others.

jdanielw wrote: »

Having completed initial paperwork for them including forwarding authorised copy passport and bank statement from last 3 months, as you would expect to be requested to do,
<snip>
Does any of this sound legit to you? Steer clear is my advice.

"Steer clear" ?? Bit late for that.

Jeez you are going to have ID fraud all over you like a rash