Have you suffered a financial loss due to mismanagement of your Offshore portfolio or policy?

Our Complaints Resolution Service may be able to assist you in gaining financial compensation

No win = No cost

Our Complaints Resolution Service has been successful in obtaining financial compensation for clients that have suffered financial losses due to the actions of Offshore Life Companies, Investment Platform providers, Pension Trustees, Discretionary Fund Managers and regulated Financial Adviser firms.

I would like to think that the majority of people involved in the financial and wealth management industry are honest, trustworthy people that are trying to help their individual clients reach their financial goals and objectives.

However, I am not that naïve to dismiss the fact that, all be it a small percentage of industry participants, that there are some with different motives for being in the industry with the sole purpose of making as much money as they can, as quickly as the can, with no care of the consequences of their actions on their clients…….. I am not that naïve as unfortunately I have witnessed this first hand and this was one of the driving forces for me in setting up Ethical Offshore Investments.

While a lot of the negative issues experienced by investors in the offshore industry is the result of those so called ‘cowboys’, there will be occasions where a client has been financially disadvantaged due to negligence or incompetence from the actions of a corporate entity, such as a Life Company, Pension Trustee, Discretionary Fund Manager or a financial advising firm.

This could be for example:

• Incorrect or lack of disclosure of fees, charges and potential exit penalties
• Inappropriate investments (too risky, lack of liquidity, lock in periods, lack of diversification)
• Processing errors resulting in delays for payments
• Unauthorised transactions

A lot of clients that have invested in Offshore type investment structures and investment schemes are not aware of their rights to lodge an official complaint and depending on the complaint (& the participants), lodging an application with a regulator for financial compensation.

So how does Ethical Offshore Investments assist with this…?

First off, we obviously listen to the complainant about what has occurred & how they believe that the actions that were taken resulted in a financial loss.

We will then request relevant information from the product provider(s) involved (with clients consent of course) and will review the actions or transactions that took place. Taking into consideration the location (where the advice/service was provided as well as country of residence of the client) as well as the location of where the responsible entity is located, we can then provide guidance on what course of action the client can take.

Just because a client may be living in Thailand for example and received advice/services from an unregulated firm, doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything that can be done…….. if the product that the complaint is referring to is from a recognised offshore Life Company (without naming names, but they generally are the ones based in the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Mauritius or the Cayman Islands) then there is an official complaints procedure that these companies must all adhere to, as directed by the local regulatory body to maintain their relevant licensing and registrations.

First step is to approach the relevant company with full details of the complaint & documented proof of how the actions caused the client to be financially disadvantaged. In many situations, where it is a clear-cut case of where the actions of the Life Company / Product Provider did result in a financial loss, the Life Company will deal with it internally & offer a compensation pay out directly to the client.

If the Life Company / Product Provider disputes the allegations made and does not agree to compensation, the next step is approaching the relevant Financial Regulator for that particular provider.

• United Kingdom – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) UK
• Isle of Man – Isle of Man Financial Services Authority
• Guernsey – Guernsey Financial Services Commission
• Cayman Islands – Cayman Islands Monetary Authority
• Mauritius – The Financial Services Commission Mauritius
• Labuan – Labuan Financial Services Authority

We then provide the regulator all of the relevant information for them to asses and determine an appropriate financial outcome for the client. As part of our service, we continue to liaise with the Regulator & the client on the progress, as well as providing additional information as requested by the regulator.

Recent Compensation Success

Over the past few years, we have been able to achieve the following compensation results for clients:

• GBP 15,000 – incorrect processing of a withdrawal by an Isle of Man Life Company for a savings plan
• GBP 12,000 – incorrect processing of an asset transfer by an Isle of Man Life Company for an offshore portfolio bond
• GBP 10,031 – inappropriate investments allowed to be made by a Malta Pension Trustee Company
• GBP   3,871 – incorrect processing of a surrender request by a Guernsey Life Company savings plan
• US $ 8,000 – incorrect processing of an asset transfer by a UK regulated Discretionary Fund Manager

There have been many other successful smaller claims where fees have been waived and or reimbursed to clients.

How much does this service cost..?

First off, this is a No Win = No Pay service. If after we have reviewed your complaint situation and agree that there is a case to be made, we will prepare all of the documentation required and lodge it with the relevant Life Company and following that, with the regulator. At this stage, the client pays Ethical Offshore Investments nothing..!!

If the complaint comes back unsuccessful (after appeals made to the regulator or tribunal), there is no cost to the client. So in other words, if we take on the case, we must strongly believe that there is a good chance of success…….

The cost to the client for when a compensation case is successful is dependent on a few different factors. The absolute maximum cost would be 20% of the net compensation amount received. And this is only payable once the compensation amount has been received.

However, this cost may in fact be lower depending on the actual amount of work we provided for the compensation as well as what business relationship that we have with the client. In some cases, the complaints resolution service can be part of the on-going client management service we are already providing  and as such, there is no further costs to pay…… irrespective of the compensation amount awarded.

If you feel that due to the actions of a previous advising firm, product provider or investment manager has resulted in you being financially disadvantaged, please click on the Request Information button below and provide some details, including how we can contact you, and we can confidentially discuss what is an appropriate course of action for you take.

Sustainable Offshore Investing using Ethical Business Standards.