Generali Worldwide Vision Plan PPB scam due to excessive charges.

ImranaT · 8 August 2018 at 1:17AM

Hi All,

I know I am not the only victim (by far) but cannot find any grouped action taken so far. I have serious issues with Financial Institution Generali Worldwide based in Guernsey, and I would like to take legal action.

In 2010, I have invested 300,000 Euros in Generali funds/plans, via an agent David Sehgal working for an agency called "Synergi Investment".

In 2010 Synergi had shown me several fund facts and beautiful graphs demonstrating a return of 10 to 12% interests per!annum, therefore doubling invested amount in 10 years.

I was naive enough to believe that and went ahead and invested. Amounts I sent to Generali Guernsey in 2010 were invested by advisor into several funds under 2 plans : Professional Portfolio (PPB) and Vision Plan.

Now ... after 8.5 years ... I have actually LOST :
- 24,265 Euros on!PPB,
- 62,161 Euros on Vision Plan.
TOTAL 86,426 Euros lost out of 300,000 Euros invested.

I realize that in addition to some of the funds not performing and not being managed properly (I still have amounts blocked into 2 SUSPENDED funds EEA and Mansion),... Generali has also and MOSTLY been deducting HUGE amounts as Administration charges and Administration fees. A total of 83,727 Euros has already been deducted from my accounts so far in 8.5 years.!The remaining valuation of my Vision Plan in February 2018 was 43,300 Euros and this dropped to 30,240 Euros in March after deduction from!Generali!of 12,342 Euros as Administration charges for 2018 alone !!!

According to exchanges with!Generali, I am informed that the remaining amount!on my Vision!plan of 30,246 Euros, will probably be absorbed into 2019 and 2020 Administration fees, leaving me with nothing !!!

This also means!that in 2020 Generali!will have deducted a total of!110,000 Euros of Admin charges & fees in 10 years.!
If this isn't ripping people off then what is ?

A typical financial institutionsl admin charge in Europe would be 200 to 1,500 Euros per year, not 11,000.

While it appears they have all signed papers and contracts in place to prove I have subscribed to this, I wish sue them as I believe this amount (over 1/3 of my investment) is by far excessive and not justified in the sense that nobody in Generali has been Administrating nor following up on my investments which have suffered losses and 2 suspended funds are still withholding some of my money.

Please share your experience on the matter.

Also if like me you have suffered Generali Vision or PPB financial losses, please contact me (Imrana.Thiam@gmail.com)
so that we can all address this legally together as one.

Reaper · 8 August 2018 at 8:48AM

These are offshore investments sold to expats so UK law does not apply.

I doubt Generali have done anything illegal unless they failed to include the charges in their documentation (which I don't think they did).

The people at fault are the advisers who recommended the policy to you. In which case it depends what protection is offered by the individual countries the advisers operate in. Few countries have the UK's level of protection so you may struggle, plus the global spread works against any prospect of joint action.

Zanderman · 8 August 2018 at 9:16AM

The original thread detailing problems with Generali was started on this forum 8 years (August 2010) ago: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2695029

And there's another from 2016: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5495087

Not my field of expertise, but that suggests to me this is a well-established issue and one where there is no easy answer - and perhaps no answer that would satisfy you. Not sure setting up a poll will help in any way at all. It's not even clear what you are asking or who you think might see it (you're probably unlikely to get a large cross-section of Generali investors on here)

Using the original thread (as you have done already) is probably the best way forward.

Aegis · 8 August 2018 at 9:51AM

Unfortunately there are a large number of borderline scam artists operating overseas where investors get very little protection and the "adviser" gets to pretty much decide the level of commission paid from the plan. Where this is kept to a minimum, the plans aren't necessarily bad in themselves, but where the adviser has maximised the commission (e.g. 10%) the charges become utterly eye watering.

I mention all this because I think you will have almost zero chance of taking action against Generali. I agree that offshore companies should stop facilitating this gross overcharging of clients, but that carries no legal weight at all.

dunstonh · 8 August 2018 at 6:08PM

Most of these Generali plans were not sold by Generali. They were just the product provider and have no liability for the sale.

Europe is catching up with the UK in terms of quality but most of these issues are historic and pre-date modern standards.

In 1994 when the qualifications were first introduced, those that failed were often targetted to move overseas to expat areas to sell products in unregulated markets (or very lowly regulated markets). These products had charges that were typical of the 80s and had long gone in the UK.

All very wrong but completely legal. You can buy a phone for £150 or you can buy another phone for £1000. It seems most are happy to spend £1000. So paying far more than they need to. Generali plans are much the same except they dont have an apple on the box.

eskbanker · 8 August 2018 at 6:43PM

dunstonh wrote: »

Generali plans are much the same except they dont have an apple on the box.

If they did then they'd be known as iGeneral instead....

ImranaT · 9 August 2018 at 8:09PM

In similar situation.

Hi Aegis, there are institutions that regulate channel island like CIFO. Unfortunately CIFO Ombudsman can only help from July 2nd 2013 and I subscribed to Generali plans in 2010. Are administration charges & fees not regulated as well ? Is Generali free to apply any % ? How can 85,000 euros of charges & fees be legal ? Any idea who could advise on this on a purely legal point of view ?

dunstonh · 9 August 2018 at 8:43PM

Are administration charges & fees not regulated as well ?

no.

Is Generali free to apply any % ?

yes

How can 85,000 euros of charges & fees be legal ?

Because it was.

Any idea who could advise on this on a purely legal point of view ?

its not a legal issue. If they provide you the illustration which shows their charges over the term (which they did) and you agreed to buy it then they have met their requirements.

ImranaT · 9 August 2018 at 11:58PM

In similar situation.

its not a legal issue. If they provide you the illustration which shows their charges over the term (which they did) and you agreed to buy it then they have met their requirements.

Dunstonh seems you are a Independant Financial Advisor (IFA). Sorry to say but people just don't trust IFAs anymore.
Truth is I was NOT presented Generali charges. Also the IFA who got me in this mess in the first place naturally never presented any costs, only nice fund facts, he also actually was never able to select any funds that yielded good returns, got me invested into 2 funds which went bankrupted, he never bothered to follow up on check on my investments, while he knew he was getting anyways his commissions out of my money. That's all he cared about. Most IFAs actually tend to disappear once money is invested.
Anyhow, am in a large group now along many other people scammed by Generali and IFAs. We will retaliate. I believe this is a legal matter at this point, and financial advise is not welcome by any of us.
Perhaps I should find a forum with more legal advisors and ... a little compassion :-)
Nice day to all.

dunstonh · 10 August 2018 at 12:25AM

Dunstonh seems you are a Independant Financial Advisor (IFA). Sorry to say but people just don't trust IFAs anymore.

Its funny to say that you don't trust someone who you have never met because of their occupation despite having never used an IFA.

Also the IFA who got me in this mess in the first place naturally never presented any costs, only nice fund facts, he also actually was never able to select any funds that yielded good returns, got me invested into 2 funds which went bankrupted, he never bothered to follow up on check on my investments, while he knew he was getting anyways his commissions out of my money. That's all he cared about. Most IFAs actually tend to disappear once money is invested.

You say it was an IFA. if that was the case, it means you bought it in the UK under FCA regulation. So, what is the problem?

Or perhaps you are misusing the term IFA or perhaps the person you bought it through from outside of the UK was misusing the term.

In the UK, an IFA has specific requirements and regulation. A UK IFA wouldn't have touched that product. It was the sort that went obsolete in the UK in the late 80s. It was very popular with sales reps in ex-pat areas. They didnt have UK standards. Do not mistake UK IFAs for the sales reps in expat regions.

Anyhow, am in a large group now along many other people scammed by Generali and IFAs.

no you are not.

We will retaliate. I believe this is a legal matter at this point, and financial advise is not welcome by any of us.
Perhaps I should find a forum with more legal advisors and ... a little compassion :-)

Perhaps you should. Here we have reasoned discussion and help people who want to be helped and understand. It isn't a good place to only be told what you want to hear. If all you want to do is slag off those responding because you dont like the answers, then elsewhere is going to be better for you.

Reaper · 10 August 2018 at 9:22AM

ImranaT wrote: »

Truth is I was NOT presented Generali charges. Also the IFA who got me in this mess in the first place naturally never presented any costs, only nice fund facts, he also actually was never able to select any funds that yielded good returns, got me invested into 2 funds which went bankrupted, he never bothered to follow up on check on my investments, while he knew he was getting anyways his commissions out of my money. That's all he cared about.

Exactly. The advisor/salesman who sold you this unsuitable product is at fault. Sue them if what they have done breaches the rules of the country where you bought it. But instead all your focus is on Generali despite all the good advice you have received here.

Generali Worldwide Vision Plan PPB scam due to excessive charges.

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