Author: Brev

Fortitude Capital – unregulated bonds offering up to 12% per annum

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Fortitude Capital is offering unregulated one year bonds paying interest of 8% per annum.

Selected introducers are offering enhanced terms whereby the interest rate is increased to 12% per annum for investments above £50,000, 11% for investments between £25,000 and £50,000, and 10% for investments between £10,000 and £25,000.

Fortitude Capital intends to use its investors’ money for “algorithmic trading” in the foreign exchange (forex) market.



Continue reading for a review of Fortitude Capital’s bonds.

Privilege Wealth administrator files progress report, £51,000 recovered to date of £4.2 million invetor funds

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The administrators of the collapsed unregulated bond scheme Privilege Wealth have filed the first of their six-monthly updates.

The full administrator's report can be viewed on Companies House.

Readers will recall that one of Privilege's main underlying investments was the loan book of a company called Rosebud which extended payday loans to the Sioux Indian Tribe of South Dakota. Since the administrators' initial report, the administrators have succeeded in recovering $87,000 from a Rosebud escrow account (£63,000).

Some further small sums recovered from various parties bring the total funds recovered from Privelege to £91,000. The administrators are due 30% of all recoveries, and this plus legal and other costs take the net amount recovered to £51,000. With Privilege's Wealth's debts identified as £4.2 million, clearly this will not go far among the creditors.

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Davenport Laroche – “secure, safe” investment in shipping containers promising up to 24.13% per annum

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Davenport Laroche offers an unregulated investment in shipping containers, which promises returns as follows:

  • "Conservative Lease" - fixed returns of 12% each year
  • "Higher Income Lease" - variable returns, described as "up to 24.13% ROI". Later in Daveport Laroche's promotions, this 24.13% figure is also described as the historic return for 2016.
In both cases, Davenport Laroche promises to buy the containers back after 5 years at cost price.

Continue reading for a review of the Davenport Laroche investment.

If you’re thinking of investing in a hotel room, you need to read this (or parking space or any other investment promising 8-12%pa)

~ Brev ~ 4 Comments

Previously on this blog I have preferred to review individual investments. But there is currently a plethora of firms offering investment in a myriad of hotel rooms, and as it's impractical to review each hotel room individually, I decided to write a general guide.

This article is about investments which work as follows:

  • A larger property is divided up into individual units, and the units are sold to investors. For example, a hotel is divided into hotel rooms, and the hotel rooms sold to investors. Or a car park may be divided into parking spaces and the spaces sold to investors, or a self-storage facility may sell off its storage pods. The promoter of the scheme still owns the hotel, the car park or the storage facility.
  • Unlike a buy-to-let flat or similar property investment, the investor does not manage the investment and is not responsible for generating the return. This responsibility remains with, or is "leased back" to, the promoter of the scheme to which the investors gave their money.
  • Unlike a buy-to-let flat, the investor does not receive a variable rent, but is promised a fixed return by the scheme promoter. Promised returns of 8% - 12% are common, although it can be more or less.
(In some investments it may be optional to "lease back" the investment for a fixed return. But in practice, the vast majority of those who buy the investment will. It is after all unlikely that they will do better by managing the investment themselves than the 8 - 12% the promoter is offering.)

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Solidus Technologies – unregulated 3 year cryptocurrency bonds paying up to 13% per year

~ Brev ~ 5 Comments

Solidus Technologies Limited is offering unregulated 3 year bonds paying interest as follows:

  • Three-year Fixed Term Bond: 10% annual interest in year 1, 3% per quarter (12% per year) in years 2 and 3, plus 10,000 alternative cryptocurrency coins for every £10,000 invested.
  • High Net Work Fixed Term Bond: for investments above £100,000, the terms are as above but the quarterly interest is 3.62% instead of 3% in years 2 and 3.
  • Three-year Compounded Bond: interest of 37.9% paid at the end of the three year term (11.3% compound interest), plus 10,000 alternative cryptocurrency coins for every £10,000 invested.
  • High Net Worth Compounded Bond: for investments above £100,000, as above but the interest is 44.21% (13.0% per year) instead of 37.9%.
Continue reading for a review of Solidus Technologies' bonds.

Buy 2 Let Cars – unregulated investment in rented cars offering 7-11% per annum

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Buy 2 Let Cars Limited offers the opportunity to invest in lease cars over a term of three years as follows:

  • Level 1: invest £7,000-£10,000 and receive a return of 7% per year
  • Level 2: invest £14,000 to fund "one unit" and receive a return of 9% per year
  • Level 3: invest to fund "two to six new units" (presumably £28,000 - £84,000) and receive a return of 10% per year
  • Level 4: invest to fund "7 or more units" (£98,000 or more) and receive a return of 11% per year
Investors' funds are used to purchase a lease car which is then leased out to a borrower. The borrower's lease payments are used to generate the promised return.

If the borrower defaults on their payments, and Buy 2 Let Cars is unable to find another borrower, Buy 2 Let Cars will attempt to sell the car to return investor's capital. If the amount realised is less than the investor invested, Buy 2 Let Cars promises to make up any shortfall up to a maximum of 85% of the amount invested.

Continue reading for a review of Buy 2 Let Cars' investment.