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Fraud and Investment Scams
Anyone parting with his hard-earned savings should conduct careful due
diligence and while an element of personal trust will always be present before
a consultant is hired investors are advised to never rely on good personal
impressions or friendship alone
The selection of financial advisors should be conducted with the utmost care.
Many investors suffer the results of poor or expensive financial advice.
Over-reliance on Regulation is also a poor substitute for impartial advice.
"Diversified financial conglomerates are a bad idea for customers
because they are riddled with conflicts of interest" (John Kay, Financial
Times, 11 Feb 2009).
Now this statement may appear to be very convincing in light of the disasters
that have befallen financial behemoths such as UBS, Citigroup or Merrill Lynch
during the past twelve months.
But things are not as simple as that. While the age of the financial
supermarket as a business strategy may be over this does not mean that focused
financial service providers are necessarily free of any conflict of interest.
Investors have to judge each institution they deal with on its own merits and
conduct proper due diligence before parting with their assets.
Little-known hedge fund manager threatens to jump out of building - police
suspects $120 million may be lost in Colorado Ponzi scheme (Wall
Street Journal, 29 April 2010)
Tom Petters convicted - perpetrator of 'Polaroid Fraud'
(www.petters-fraud.com,
9 April 2010)
Sfr 40 - 50 million lost in Swiss Investment Fraud
(Neue
Zuercher Zeitung, 29 March 2010)
Hedge-fund fraudster James Nicholson betrayed his own family in
$150 million Ponzi scheme (New
York Post, 5 April 2010)
Investment Advisor Alberto Vilar sentenced for $ 22 Mio swindle (NY
Daily News, 6 February 2010)
K1 Fraud - nearly Sfr 600 Mio lost but only Sfr 350,000 in assets traced (Neue
Zuercher Zeitung, 3 February 2010)
Danny Pang allegedly
extracted at least $83 million in allegedly inflated fees, loans and salary (Wall
Street Journal, 26 June 2009)
South African investors fleeced in alleged £1.2 billion fraud (The
Times, 14 June 2009)
Victim of Madoff Scam kills himself (The
Times, 12 June 2009)
Fake Financial Consultant accused of swindling eight people out of
almost Euro 2 Million (The
Times, 9 June 2009)
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PBA will help you with the
following:|
What is private in Private
Equity Funds?
Should you participate in
Euro experiment?
What can rebalancing your
portfolio achieve?
How can you protect yourself
against states going bankrupt?
Should you trust your
financial advisor?
Are you in- or outside your hedge fund's sidepocket?
Implementing an appropriate asset allocation
Can financial advisors really be 'independent'?
MIFID - a flop for the
private investor
Are your management and
performance fees calculated correctly?
Can you trust relatives
when investing?
Pitfalls of investing in
ETF's, ETN's, ETC's and ETT's
What is a step-down express
certificate?
Are Hedge Fund Billionaires
good for your financial health?
Should you consider 'Newcits', and what are they?
Understand why some ETF's may not perform as you expect
How to survive the global war
between savers and speculators
Is your financial adviser a
professional or a business man/woman?
Why traditional
diversification is no longer sufficient
How to protect yourself against
currency 'reform'?
Risk aspects of property
and money market funds
Is my money used to pay for
banker's bonuses?
What is the best way to invest in Gold?
How should you Financial Adviser
be compensated and what role does the remuneration structure of his
employer have?
Does it matter where my
investment manager is located?
Who is ultimately responsible for the regulation of my investment fund?
Are investments in the USA sensible given proposed changes in the tax
law?
Where are my confidential
financial affairs still treated with respect?
How to protect yourself from toxic financial instruments
Does past performance
help in picking investment managers or funds?
Should you stay away from firms
that use Celebrity endorsements?
How to understand what
performance statistics hide
Do you need a financial advisor that walks your dog?
Not all regulators are created equal. Which ones should you trust - and
what does it mean when an advisor is regulated?
What type of Institution will
suit your needs better? Large or Small Banks, Private Banks, Independent Asset
Managers or Boutique Managers?
What are the implications if Hedge Funds hold massive cash reserves?
How meaningful is the fact that a Hedge Fund has had only 15 losing months
during the past 15 years?
Are larger Hedge Funds or Fund of Funds necessarily better for you?
What is the correct way to set targets for performance fees on Hedge Funds?
Is a 'High-Water-Mark' sufficient to protect the interests of Investors in
Hedge Funds?
Are Hedge Funds really a new Asset Class?
There are so many different Indices of Hedge Fund Performance - which one
shall I pay attention to?
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