Assessing an investment opportunity
Discussion
My accountant has introduced me to a (seemingly) very attractive invite-only investment scheme.
How does one 'do' due diligence? I have copies of the T&C's of the scheme and the accountant (who is also an IFA) has provided the last 12 months of figures and a copy of his most recent 4 months data (he tells me he's invested in this scheme himself). I trust him to the extent you can trust anyone paid to give you professional advice
... but if I wanted to check the figures, can I?
Thanks for any advice.
How does one 'do' due diligence? I have copies of the T&C's of the scheme and the accountant (who is also an IFA) has provided the last 12 months of figures and a copy of his most recent 4 months data (he tells me he's invested in this scheme himself). I trust him to the extent you can trust anyone paid to give you professional advice
... but if I wanted to check the figures, can I?Thanks for any advice.
bigandclever said:
My accountant has introduced me to a (seemingly) very attractive invite-only investment scheme.
How does one 'do' due diligence? I have copies of the T&C's of the scheme and the accountant (who is also an IFA) has provided the last 12 months of figures and a copy of his most recent 4 months data (he tells me he's invested in this scheme himself). I trust him to the extent you can trust anyone paid to give you professional advice ... but if I wanted to check the figures, can I?
Thanks for any advice.
First stop is for him to declare in writing what his commission structure is from the sale.How does one 'do' due diligence? I have copies of the T&C's of the scheme and the accountant (who is also an IFA) has provided the last 12 months of figures and a copy of his most recent 4 months data (he tells me he's invested in this scheme himself). I trust him to the extent you can trust anyone paid to give you professional advice
... but if I wanted to check the figures, can I?Thanks for any advice.
Accountants who are also IFAs are never acting as accountants.
Invite only is another warning signal as well to be honest, as I suspect you are already thinking.
I'm reasonably au fait with many of the scemes being sold at present and I've not yet found one that I was completely comfortable with.
I guess your next step is to call up another accountant and have a chat about his services and mention the sceme to see what his view is.
Thanks chaps.
I have a firm idea of the costs involved, a reasonable idea of realistic returns (though of course this really is only based on prior performance), a shaky grasp of how the scheme operates, but I'm missing a thorough understanding of the risks.
I spoke to my brother (who's also an accountant) and between us we came up with a whole list of questions that I've fed back to my accountant to see what he comes up with.
You know how sometimes your 'spider sense' tingles when something doesn't quite add up, or the old adage "if it looks too good to be true...."? Well I've no experience in investing so I don't know whether I'm right to be twitchy or not!
I have a firm idea of the costs involved, a reasonable idea of realistic returns (though of course this really is only based on prior performance), a shaky grasp of how the scheme operates, but I'm missing a thorough understanding of the risks.
I spoke to my brother (who's also an accountant) and between us we came up with a whole list of questions that I've fed back to my accountant to see what he comes up with.
You know how sometimes your 'spider sense' tingles when something doesn't quite add up, or the old adage "if it looks too good to be true...."? Well I've no experience in investing so I don't know whether I'm right to be twitchy or not!
Bump from a hundred years ago...
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing/article.htm...
This was the scheme I was twitchy about. Having said that, I still gambled a modest amount but was 'lucky' enough to take the returns and get out in October.
Anyway, I hope if there is anyone on here still with money in that they get it all back. I believe the High Court hearing is tomorrow.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing/article.htm...
This was the scheme I was twitchy about. Having said that, I still gambled a modest amount but was 'lucky' enough to take the returns and get out in October.
Anyway, I hope if there is anyone on here still with money in that they get it all back. I believe the High Court hearing is tomorrow.
From reading this
http://boards.thisismoney.co.uk/tim/threadnonInd.j...
it all sounds a bit Bernie Madoff
http://boards.thisismoney.co.uk/tim/threadnonInd.j...
it all sounds a bit Bernie Madoff
And another - it's all the rage:
Large numbers of small investors could be hit by a suspected multi-million pound fraud involving a City trader who has been arrested by financial investigators.
City of London police said on Thursday it had launched a probe into Bromley-based GFX Capital Markets, which is majority-owned by foreign exchange dealer Terry Freeman.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/02/12/52403/d...
Large numbers of small investors could be hit by a suspected multi-million pound fraud involving a City trader who has been arrested by financial investigators.
City of London police said on Thursday it had launched a probe into Bromley-based GFX Capital Markets, which is majority-owned by foreign exchange dealer Terry Freeman.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/02/12/52403/d...
Edited by limpsfield on Friday 13th February 10:36
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