Strongbox claims to provide “Up to 25% ROI per annum” through investment in construction equipment, which it claims to lease out to major infrastructure developers. It further claims that “In 2018, investors who leased their equipment through Strongbox made a 24.76% return on their investment”.
Strongbox is currently being promoted to UK investors by Instagram.
Who are Strongbox?
Strongbox provides no information on who is behind the business. Nor is there any company registration information, making most of their claims impossible to verify.
Strongbox’s original website, strongboxleasing.com, was registered anonymously in 2016. Its current website domain, strongboxcompany.com, was registered again anonymously in 2019. Despite Strongbox providing a Hong Kong address on its website, the WHOIS details for strongboxcompany.com state that it was registered out of Bulgaria.
Strongbox claims that it has been “providing construction equipment to the global rental markets for over 14 years”. There is however no evidence provided by Strongbox that it existed before 2016.
An archive copy of strongboxleasing.com’s website from 2018 shows that it was still offering an investment scheme back then – but in shipping containers, not construction equipment.
In the real world, companies don’t suddenly decide to pivot to a completely different industry offering a completely different product to completely different buyers, while still falsely claiming to have 14 years’ experience in their new industry.
The only reason a company would do so is if its shipping containers never existed, and were simply a pretext to solicit money from investors. Apparently that story wore thin, so Strongbox has switched from pretending to generate 24% per year returns from big boxes to generating the same 24% per year returns from big trucks.
How safe is the investment?
Strongbox claims that its investment “guarantees both income and security for your investment”. The reality is that a “guarantee” is only as good as the company backing it. Any investment with an individual company is extremely high risk with an inherent possibility of up to 100% loss. This especially applies when the company does not appear to exist outside a website registered from Bulgaria.
Strongbox’s offer to take money from investors and use it to generate an ROI of up to 24% while guaranteeing income and security represents an investment security. Promoting financial securities and running investment schemes requires registration with securities regulators in almost every country in the world. In the UK, for example, where Strongbox is running Instagram ads, offering financial promotions requires registration with the FCA.
Strongbox’s website gives no indication that it is registered with any financial regulator anywhere in the world, meaning that it is committing a criminal offence in the UK and any other country in which it offers securities without authorisation.
Strongbox’s willingness to break the law and promote its investment illegally means all its claims should be considered bogus until proven otherwise. Why would major construction companies pay massively over the odds for construction equipment so that random investors clicking on Instagram ads can get 24% per year returns?
Should I invest with Strongbox?
This blog does not give financial advice. The following are statements of publicly available facts or widely accepted investment principles, not a personalised recommendation. Investors should consult a regulated independent financial adviser if they are in any doubt.
Any investment offering returns of 24% per year is inherently very high risk. As an individual, illiquid security with a risk of total and permanent loss, Strongbox’s investments are much higher risk than a mainstream diversified stockmarket fund.
Strongbox’s illegal investment promotions, failure to disclose any corporate identity and false claims to 14 years of experience are serious red flags that should turn off any serious investor.
Do not proceed unless you are prepared for total losses.
Thanks very much that’s pretty concise & useful.
I’ve invested in this and these guys are great. They pay on time and it’s one of my best investments . I’m super bright and a long term investor. Sometimes you just have to look for hidden value and this is a true gem.
I’m not a super bright person but I do know that in the above comment, “long term” is a premodifying compound adjective and as such should be spelled “long-term”.
Come to think of it, so is “super bright”.
Regardless, I’d wager that Billy Hanley isn’t really an investor but indeed is employed in some manner by Strongbox themselves.
These minibond sellers don’t miss a trick.
Every Ponzi scheme pays on time until it runs out of money. “Best investments” don’t conceal their company ownership or break the law.
You’ve got comedy value, I’ll give you that.
I am waiting for my bi payment which is 4 weeks late.
Iitvwas going well until now, O invested 26 months ago.
Getting information is difficult. I am minded to issue a winding up order for the full amount invested