Investment loss

SterlingIB

Hi all, I put £100,000 in an Investment Bond after selling my house and at the time I was undecided what I wanted to do, this was in 2007.  I knew I had lost money but as I am moving house sorting out papers it seems that I lost over 25,000!  My ignorance or poor advice, I don't know. But is there anyway this can be investigated or do I just have to accept the loss?  I feel irritated and wish I hadn't looked at the papers, can I do something or maybe I just have to let it go.  Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Sorcerer2018

A 25% loss in these times us not unexpected, and you haven't actually lost that money until you sell up. Did somebody give you advice about your investment, in which you might be able to complain, but it depends on your circumstances.

bowlhead99

Presumably you are not just now realising that you lost over 25000 just because you are sorting out some old papers - you already knew that you had lost the money, yes?

As you knew that you lost money and didn't complain to whoever gave you the advice, it is likely a bit late to be thinking that it was poor advice and that this should be investigated by someone.

I'm assuming you no longer have the investment and you are just finding the old records of when you cashed it in for less than you had paid for it? It was your choice to cash it in, and if you still held it today it's likely it would have been more valuable.

dunstonh

 I knew I had lost money but as I am moving house sorting out papers it seems that I lost over 25,000! 

Over what period?   You dont say.  (this is important)

£100k in 2007 is probably over £200k now (unless withdrawals).  Maybe you could confirm the balance as a £25k loss on £200k is not a lot.

My ignorance or poor advice, I don't know. 

Probably the former as investments zig zag in value on a daily basis and the CV did see markets fall up to 35% during Feb and March but have since largely recovered back to January values (some higher, some a tad lower depending on asset mix).

But is there anyway this can be investigated or do I just have to accept the loss?

It is likely that the only thing that needs investigating is your understanding.  We can help that.

If you can answer the questions above and the following, it would help.

Do you still have the money invested?  if so, what is the current value - not a value from months ago

What were you invested in (the funds)?

What is the current value? (if still held) or the surrender value (if surrendered)

What was the date of the surrender (if no longer held).

Malthusian

Sorcerer2018 said:

A 25% loss in these times us not unexpected, and you haven't actually lost that money until you sell up. Did somebody give you advice about your investment, in which you might be able to complain, but it depends on your circumstances.

If it's a 25% loss compared to the original £100k, that would be very unexpected if the bond was still in existence. A 25% loss since 2007 would be a truly horrendous investment. From June 2007 to March 2020 the FTSE 100 returned +30%, and that's a rubbish investment over the worst possible timeframe.

As per Bowlhead, the obvious explanation is that it was sold around 2008-2010 as the OP suggested they realised the loss a while ago.

The OP needs to tell us what the bond was invested in and when it was sold if they want to continue digging into this. The limited information in their post do not indicate any valid complaint, and even a valid complaint may be timebarred. However, complaining and going to the FOS is free, and the FOS has been known to ignore time bars.

Sorcerer2018

Fair point, i forgot the 2007 bit, and if this is the cause and held until now that would be awefull performance.

SterlingIB

Hi all, thanks for taking time to read and comment.

ok title of investment  
Sterling Investment Bond, Investment start date 22 June 2007 - withdrawn August 2012 
I took out a percentage (0.625%) each month for 5 yrs which added up to £24,849.24  (which was probably a bad move too!)
Value of surrendered bond £48,193.46
I think that is all, and I now I have to learn from this!  Although I will never have that money again so the problem won't arrise again!!
I did have a financial advisor who went to america, he recommended another but as I was caught up in Italy with new babies etc. I didn't follow it up.  

I think i've beaten myself up enough.

What a great site and what a fabulous lot you are.

Thanks again
Angela

dunstonh

Sterling Investment Bond, Investment start date 22 June 2007 - withdrawn August 2012 

The surrender date was key information you ought to have supplied in post 1.   It changes things as it allows us to know the period in question.

I took out a percentage (0.625%) each month for 5 yrs which added up to £24,849.24  (which was probably a bad move too!)

That is also key information.   If you had £100 in a bank account and took £25 through a cashpoint machine, the you know the value goes down to £75.     So, the withdrawals are very important.

I think that is all, and I now I have to learn from this!  Although I will never have that money again so the problem won't arrise again!!

Why did you surrender the bond and what did you do with the money?

Your timing was unfortunate.  You invested just before the credit crunch.  The markets fell around 45% during that period.    However, the decade that followed saw very high returns and you would have recovered and shown profit had you waited. 

When you invest, you have good years, nothing years and bad years.   You never know the order they will come in.   You suffered the bad years at the start and then withdrew the money before it had a chance to take advantage of those good years.

An economic cycle is around 10 years nowadays.  So, if you invest for less than an economic cycle, you are taking greater risks.  You dont know if you are going to get mostly poor years or good years.   You got the very heavily poor years.

fwor

It sounds as though you may have been unlucky with your timing, but also the returns will have depended on which fund(s) you selected to hold within the bond - perhaps you chose a very conservative fund?

For comparison, I held £40k in a Sterling Investment Bond from 2006, selling in two stages in 2012 and 2013. The underlyng fund was "7IM moderately Adventurous" and I got back just a shade over £50k - so it's certainly not true that the Sterling product itself was a bad choice - though IIRC it wasn't that great compared to others I had at the time.

SterlingIB

I took out the money as I was scared it was going to get even less, I understand so much more now.

Best wishes to you all and I now know where to come if I need advice and support in the future.

Thanks again
Angela