Sanctuary Bond from Equfund (IPS) Ltd.

petemcdermott2009

I purchased this bond in 2020 and it was due to mature October 23.  I received the first two year's interest payments on time but not the final year's interest or capital, despite many phone messages, emails & letters.  The organisation purports to provide affordable housing and are still issuing application forms for further bonds. 

JamesRobinson48

Equfund (IPS) Ltd filed its most recent unaudited financial statements (for 2020) in mid 2021 and appears to have made no financial disclosures since then. That document is readily available on the FCA website within the Mutuals Public Register.  Notably, financial statements ought to have been filed long ago (but seemingly were not) for the 2021 and 2022 years.

Only a quick skim of those 2020 statements is needed to indicate that, at the time, the entity seemed to be in a calamitous financial situation. Looks like it had recurring large losses and an escalating excess of liabilities over assets.  The entity appears to be dominated by one family and IMHO, on the facts as reported, there appears little prospect of anyone getting any cash out.

I can only imagine that your motives for getting involved would have been largely benevolent and hopefully that's some comfort. The marketing materials make clear that all one's money is at risk, and moreover that there's no intention of seeking a profit from these activities helping vulnerable people.  One can only hope that the money has benefited the needy homeless, not the promoters.

I'm no expert, I might be completely mistaken, DYOR.

LHW99

You can look up the company in the Mutuals Public Register here (if interested):

https://mutuals.fca.org.uk/Search/Society/10514

jimjames

There's a list of people the bond isn't suitable for, you might want to check if you meet any of those criteria

https://equfund.com/loanstock

The offer document includes the following statement

ALL LOANSTOCK HOLDINGS SHOULD BE SEEN AS A SOCIAL INVESTMENT WHICH IS NOT COVERED BY A FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPENSATION SCHEME. WITH INVESTMENT, YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK AND IT’S IMPORTANT TO ONLY INVEST WHAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO LOSE. IF IN DOUBT, CONSULT A FINANCIAL ADVISER.

On the plus side one investor quoted "felt doubly blessed that Equfund has a strong Christian ethic May the Lord continue to be the guiding hand of Equfund"

Hope you manage to get something resolved but not a great sign if they're not submitting accounts. I wonder if repayments to existing investors are dependent on money from new ones. That might sound like a pyramid scheme.

petemcdermott2009

Further to my original post on 8 January the bond has been fully repaid with interest albeit a couple of months late.

I wrote to Equfund saying “On each occasion that my bonds have matured there has been silence and delay which has caused concern and suspicion which doesn’t help your cause”

and received a reply from Laura Mahon, their solicitor.

Recently she contacted me again asking “Since your redemption and interest have been repaid would it be possible for you to please remove the post, or alternatively post a follow up comment to confirm that you have indeed been fully repaid?

I am now satisfied that this is a worthy organisation working under considerable pressure.

wmb194

petemcdermott2009 said:

Further to my original post on 8 January the bond has been fully repaid with interest albeit a couple of months late.

I wrote to Equfund saying “On each occasion that my bonds have matured there has been silence and delay which has caused concern and suspicion which doesn’t help your cause”

and received a reply from Laura Mahon, their solicitor.

Recently she contacted me again asking “Since your redemption and interest have been repaid would it be possible for you to please remove the post, or alternatively post a follow up comment to confirm that you have indeed been fully repaid?

I am now satisfied that this is a worthy organisation working under considerable pressure.

Judging by its financials you were lucky.

Manofstraw

Further to recent posts, I did finally receive an e-mail from Laura Mahon in early summer detailing the Sanctuary Bonds held and the interest due. Since then, however, I haven't had any reply to an e-mail asking for clarification about the Equfund situation. One of our Sanctuary Bonds was due to mature last month, but there is no sign of any capital or interest in our nominated account. The site appears to be still live and the automated e-mail replies still quote a telephone number to ring - even though this is never answered. I am not hopeful, but will continue to try to make contact since Equfund has always been so reliable in the past.

upsetinvestor

Just wondering whether anyone has heard ANYTHING from Equfund about missing interest payments and the organisation's total failure to communicate with its investors. I haven't received any interest since last summer, or received any response to multiple emails and calls, and I have not been able to access the 'portal' referred to in the most recent so-called "update". Our investments are supposed to be secured on the properties in which we have invested. Are those contracts going to protect us?

Notreaping

The website for Equfund (IPS) Limited says that people who made secured loans through the REAP scheme are not affected by the company's CVA process - but it gives no further information on what we are to do to get repayment of our loans, or even interest payments. My attempts to contact them have received no response.