Basset & Gold

Basset & Gold offers unregulated corporate bonds paying

• up to 7.46% per annum for bonds paying monthly income for a term of up to 5 years
• 7.7% per annum for 5-year bonds with interest rolled up
• 4.32%pa on 1-year “pensioner bonds” for the over 55s only
• and 3.14% on “cash bonds” which pay interest bi-annually and are redeemable by giving 30 days’ notice.

Who are Basset & Gold?

There is no information on the website on who the directors or owners of the company are.

Companies House shows that Basset & Gold plc is wholly owned by B&G Investments Ltd, a company registered in the Seychelles. I was unable to find any information about B&G Investments.

The directors of Basset & Gold plc are Daniel Smith and Dror Israel Sordo.

Dror Sordo was previously the Chief Executive of PlusUK500, an AIM-listed CFD and forex-trading website – essentially a bookmaker for gambling on financial markets. According to the FCA register, he left that position in 2013, although his LinkedIn profile has not been updated.

Investors should think very carefully before investing money with a company that is not upfront about who is owning or running it.

How secure is the investment?

All investments offered by Basset & Gold are unregulated corporate loans and if Basset & Gold defaults you risk losing 100% of your money.

There are very few details on the website as to how your money is invested by Basset & Gold, but a risk warning at the bottom of the website states “Investment through the Basset & Gold Fixed Income Bonds involves lending to companies or individuals and therefore your capital is at risk and interest payments are not guaranteed if the borrower defaults”.

There is a vague reference in the risk warning to the investments being asset-backed. However, if for whatever reason Basset & Gold is unable to sell the assets your bond is secured on for enough money to cover its obligations, investors still risk losing up to 100% of their money.

Should I invest with Basset & Gold?

As with any unregulated corporate bond, this investment is only suitable for sophisticated and/or high net worth investors who have a substantial existing portfolio and are prepared to risk 100% loss of their money.

This particular bond is advertised as asset-backed. Before putting any reliance on the security backing the bond, investors should undertake professional due diligence to ensure that a) the security exists b) in the event of default, the security could be easily sold and would raise enough money to cover all investors’ money c) the charge over the security has been properly and legally recorded.

Before investing investors should ask themselves:

•         How would I feel if the investment defaulted and I lost 100% of my money?
•         Do I have a sufficiently large portfolio that the loss of 100% of my investment would not damage me financially?
•         Have I conducted due diligence to ensure the asset-backed security can be relied on?

If you are looking for a “cash investment” or an investment that offers “security”, you should not invest in unregulated products with a risk of 100% capital loss.