Chase Belgrave

After having being approached by this so called company .. yes cold called, after an innocent website enquiry a few months ago !

It´s come to our knowledge they are a bunch of unscrupulous...!!! Furthermore myself and my wife have been bombarded by calls from so called experts at all times of the day recently in Australia! Beware of anybody who deals with them especially expats who enter websites about pension transfers or plans with no company name....!!! They have a habit of disappearing with no trace or contact details !!

Furthermore their owner claims to be a ´guru´ on pension advice..? Beware of references to national newspapers to so called experts.!

The paperwork has been endless and communication has been absolutely non existent! Without doubt we highly recommend you to NOT deal with them or their so called services.

Over a period of six years, investments made with CB lost 25% - 100K. Communication from them was negligible; any information provided was at my instigation.

I was not advised that the two funds in which my money was invested were suspended (they still are) one for over a year and one since 2013. When I queried whether funds should be transferred, as money was stagnating, I was lied to and advised that I should 'hang on' and wait for markets to improve. It was not made clear that, due to their poor investment choices, my money was frozen and I was unable to access it. These funds were for my retirement.

CB still suggest that my funds are invested wisely but as a low risk investor, a fact of which they were aware, the only way they could recuperate, when the suspension is lifted, is by investing in high risk funds, subjecting me to the chances of losing even more.

Inappropriate professional advice and complete lack of communication and fund management. Strongly advise against using CB.

ALL I can say if you are Buying an Investment through Chase Belgrave, Devere or any of the Overseas Expat Financial Advisers then you seriously do need to check the small print. Justin Harris and Michael Moore both worked for Devere and set up Chase Belgrave.

There MAIN focus is on Long term Investment plans. Which are fine until you want to exit them. The Penalties are huge even if the plan has been going years.

GET the full Terms and Conditions if you wanted to come out of it early.

Get it in writing for the company selling you it and from the company that underwrites it. MY advice is go Short term!

Jason ##### was my route into a QROPS pension. He signed me up, allocated me to a bunch of companies and, when I pointed out that his recommended investments were losing money, decided he didn't like what I was saying and dropped me as his client.

Strange? Yes, until you realize that he had bagged a commission of GBP 36,000 from those companies and now had no more work to do for it.

He is probably bright as he realized he could get away with this.

What does he know about finance and customer care. Zilch!

Similar to the experience of the person who posted originally in July 2018, I have a QROPS account with Chase Belgrave, managed by Justin H***** out of the Zurich office, who now appears to be in Mauritius. As of February 2017, I had GBP 105,000 remaining in an account invested in an STM Malta fund.

I have written to Justin H***** and his colleague Matthew Beddington on multiple occasions since Feb 2017 to withdraw the 25%/year that I am allowed to withdraw, and I have gotten no response from either Justin or Matthew, or anyone at Chase Belgrave, and STM Malta is not responding regarding my balance either. If anyone has information on how to get updated information on my account and withdraw funds I would appreciate it.

I would just like to advise everyone not to use Justin H***** at Chase Belgrave. He advised us on a QROPS transfer and it was meant to be invested at a low risk portfolio.

He invested a considerable amount in about 4 obscure products which were not low risk at all. Two structured products and two funds. He made out that there was no commission, what he didn't advise on was the commission he received from the funds themselves and the cost of exiting these funds.

He also used RL360 who also have high charges built in.

His communication was terrible , many people have jumped ship. I could use stronger language to describe him.

I am sure many others out there have been burnt by his advice.

4 years ago we transferred 270,000 GBP into a QROPS scheme managed by Justin H*****. After quoting his writing for the Guardian and quotes from The Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments we proceeded. Our risk profile was cautious with an emphasis on protecting capital over return.

Based upon this we felt confident in our dealings. Fast forward 3 years and the fund is now worth 160,000 GPB and Justin H***** asks us to give him 6 months to put it right or he would resign and pay us 15,000 GBP.

Come 6 months and the fund has gone down more and Justin H***** refuses to resign as our IFA without a non disclosure form being signed.

By the time we get him out the picture in February 2018 it has lost even more and continues to do so as funds are front loaded with fees. After lodging complaints with every Financial Institution I could find it appears Justin H***** and Chase Belgrave are not regulated by anybody.

Further, the quote from Simon Culhane of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments appears to be a lie. The Guardian washed their hands of him and now it appears that he has moved to Mauritius.

I can only assume this is a common practice for him and Chase Belgrave. I will be following this trail until I get my money back and can only take this opportunity to avoid Justin H***** and Chase Belgrave like the plague.

Stay away from them, they are quick to grab your investment but overall experience is bad, probably one of the worst customer services my wife and i have experienced. They take ages to respond to your queries, and at times not always accurate, and their attitude sucks.

I am surprise they can last this long !! Beware potential investors, you are helping to fund these cowboys who has a posh offices in Zurich. Clearly the fees will help to fund their lifestyle.

With regards to fees do CHECK and request the terms and conditions of ALL the fees as they are not all crystal clear and make sure you check and is 100% clear on everything as they are quick to assume because you sign on the dotted line, you must understand. But if you can, avoid them at all costs