Usin a sipp to invest in cape verde

TheTracker · 19 February 2015 at 8:06AM

Frightening degrees of gullibility and predation

Greeniron · 19 February 2015 at 8:12AM

The cold call is a bad start. Even if it isn't a scam could you afford to lose this pension fund or see it drastically reduce in value? This could happen if it doesn't take off and people prefer to stick to florida, the west indies and spain for their hols. The hotel room(s) in your pension fund could then prove tricky to sell on to anyone.

I don't know the detail of the deal but if it was a sure thing I imagine they wouldn't have to tout around normal folk for business, big money would be snapping the opportunity up. In my view, steer clear, stick to boring old Pru or whatever and be sure of your retirement fund.

It's a different type of unusual investment and in a different sort of scheme but here's a cautionary tale of one poor chap who lost a lot.

http://www.ftadviser.com/2015/01/21/pensions/personal-pensions/when-liberation-does-not-mean-freedom-ESUKqWwB806y0torUuX8IM/article-0.html

ognum · 19 February 2015 at 9:20AM

I am not a pensions guru but my simple laymans thoughts are, if you can't afford to lose it don't invest it.

I have some knowledge of the Carribean Islands and have seen many resorts start building and then lay dormant unfinished for many, many years. These all had people's money tied up in them and all that's left is builders rubble and rebar with weed growing through them, they will never be restarted. These sites need to be cleared again and completely restarted.

Most Caribbean countries are very poor, third world economics prevail, some don't even have direct air links from the developed world. Think twice and then think again.

dunstonh · 19 February 2015 at 10:55AM

I don't know if it is a scam or not, there are a lot of people working for these companies and they are a big operation.

They are not a big company.

Please, for the benefit of others, report your story to the FCA.

Now I'm not so sure. Isn't every investment a leap of faith to some degree?

Every investment has risks. This however, is not a calculated risk. it is a company fraudulently advertising for free pension reviews (which is not correct and there is an FCA warning on)
http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/financial-services-products/pensions/protect

The company is unregulated. The investments are unregulated. With all the fraud being committed to get the money, what makes you feel comfortable that none is being committed with the investments?

Also note that most of the companies seem to be based on the same industrial estate in Pride Park Derby.

I don't know if I will leap or not but I imagine other people will be in the same position as me and maybe this post will come up if they type the same names into a search engine. I hope others will contribute with their experiences and advice so that if it is a scam, people will be warned, and if it is a kosher pension investment, people will be reassured.

Please report your series of events about what happened to the FCA (how they contacted you, who you saw, what you were told and what you have been give). Normally, they would not be that interested in individual consumer issues but they will be in this case. There are other threads on first pension review you may wish to search for.

kangoora · 19 February 2015 at 2:57PM

StephenCo - If I get this right you've been contacted by a non-regulated company, who put you in contact with another non-regulated company, who propose to set up a trust with another (presumably) non-regulated company who are going to sell you parts of a building site on a promise that it will go up in value - see anything wrong with this?

You seem like a generally sensible person reading your post, however, sorry to be blunt, why are even considering doing something so bloody stupid as investing your entire pension that (just so conveniently) happened to match exactly what they needed as a minimum investment after they'd been given access to view your details?

Would you accept a cold call from someone who says he has a dead cert on the 16:15 at Doncaster and then hand over all your cash on a verbal promise to make sure you double your money?

DancingBadger · 19 February 2015 at 3:14PM

Most Caribbean countries are very poor, third world economics prevail, some don't even have direct air links from the developed world. Think twice and then think again.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Cape Verde islands (an archipelago of 10 small islands) are in the Atlantic, not the Caribbean.

Judging by the responses, the OP is probably now aware that he's had a very close shave with some unscrupulous scammers and will be staying well clear.

Thank goodness for MSE!

StephenCo_2 · 19 February 2015 at 5:40PM

kangoora wrote: »

StephenCo - If I get this right you've been contacted by a non-regulated company, who put you in contact with another non-regulated company, who propose to set up a trust with another (presumably) non-regulated company who are going to sell you parts of a building site on a promise that it will go up in value - see anything wrong with this?

You seem like a generally sensible person reading your post, however, sorry to be blunt, why are even considering doing something so bloody stupid as investing your entire pension that (just so conveniently) happened to match exactly what they needed as a minimum investment after they'd been given access to view your details?

It isn't a building site, the one they are asking me to invest in, the Llana is already built. If anyone asks you to invest in White Sands, that's a different story.

I'm not one to normally take cold calls but this came at a time when I was thinking about my pension and my future anyway, and also have been thinking about some way to get a property investment to give me more security in the future. This isn't exactly what I envisaged but it comes out of the same logic.

And I do have other pension arrangements, I am a bit of a hedger. I don't know if I can afford to lose £23000 - can anyone? - but losing the prospect of living off £500 per year, which seems to be where this particular pension pot is taking me, doesn't sound quite as scary. £500 to £0 per year isn't that big a drop. Perhaps this particular investment isn't right, but this is the kind of thing I want my pension to be doing.

I appreciate your advice and I appreciate you are looking out for me and you've certainly given me a lot to think about. But please don't rush to judgement... my main motivation for posting this was just so that there is some record of this investment/scam/opportunity for people to share their thoughts for future victims/investors, as I couldn't find it all summarised anywhere else.

mystic_trev · 19 February 2015 at 6:08PM

I've recently been invited to participate in a 'once in a lifetime' Investment by the Fee-fi-fo-fum Corporation, in a selection of Magic Beans. Bearing in mind the current gloomy returns in many other Investments, I've been advised that Magic Beans can only go up.

RichandJ · 19 February 2015 at 6:38PM

mystic_trev wrote: »

I've recently been invited to participate in a 'once in a lifetime' Investment by the Fee-fi-fo-fum Corporation, in a selection of Magic Beans. Bearing in mind the current gloomy returns in many other Investments, I've been advised that Magic Beans can only go up.

Do they offer free crampons & a giant slaying kit ?

If not, they must be scammers.

Drp8713 · 19 February 2015 at 7:26PM

StephenCo wrote: »

It isn't a building site, the one they are asking me to invest in, the Llana is already built. If anyone asks you to invest in White Sands, that's a different story.

I'm not one to normally take cold calls but this came at a time when I was thinking about my pension and my future anyway, and also have been thinking about some way to get a property investment to give me more security in the future. This isn't exactly what I envisaged but it comes out of the same logic.

And I do have other pension arrangements, I am a bit of a hedger. I don't know if I can afford to lose £23000 - can anyone? - but losing the prospect of living off £500 per year, which seems to be where this particular pension pot is taking me, doesn't sound quite as scary. £500 to £0 per year isn't that big a drop. Perhaps this particular investment isn't right, but this is the kind of thing I want my pension to be doing.

I appreciate your advice and I appreciate you are looking out for me and you've certainly given me a lot to think about. But please don't rush to judgement... my main motivation for posting this was just so that there is some record of this investment/scam/opportunity for people to share their thoughts for future victims/investors, as I couldn't find it all summarised anywhere else.

I can't understand your logic at all.

Saying I haven't got much so I don't mind losing it is just silly.

Under the new pension freedoms, if you are 55 you could take it all out over two tax years, pay no tax on it if you don't have any other income and blow it, at least that way you would be spending it instead of some scammer.

Otherwise, if you wanted to gamble it in the hope of a better return, they are high risk but legitimate regulated areas that can go up massively in any given year, biotech is up 40% this year, India nearly 90%. Obviously you have as much chance of picking an area that will go down massively as one that would go up if you put it all in one sector.

Usin a sipp to invest in cape verde

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