Eddie Hobbs 'scheme'...

WHIP IT!

Front page of the Herald tonight... What do people think of the scheme Eddie Hobbs is setting up?

Worst investing in?

SuperSean11

Whats the scheme?I havnt read it

WHIP IT!

Only breezed through it and haven't got it to hand, but he wants to "raise" €250m to invest on people's behalf (ie, I invest 10k, Joe Bloggs invest 50k, An Other invests 500 quid etc etc) and his company (who have been studying the stock market for 18 months to gear up for this) invest it...

I'm sure I haven't got that exactly right, but that's the gist...

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

SuperSean11

I wouldnt be mad about trusting people with my money even with my limited knowledge Even with Eddie Hobbses "Experience"

dunkamania

I have lost a lot of respect for eddie over the last few months.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Wait...didn't he get or almost get disqualified as a director about a year ago because of malpractice in a companyhe was acting as a director in?

Henry Ford III

He's totally untrustworthy imho.

A Random Walk

Eddie is a promoter and a director, in the prospectus I don't see any reference to him making the investment decisions.

I don't begrudge him this a single bit but his reputation is as a personal finance expert and not an investment expert. You should approach this no differently to how you would approach any investment, look at the risk, look at the experience of the principals, look at the investment plans etc.

dunkamania

Sean_K wrote:

Wait...didn't he get or almost get disqualified as a director about a year ago because of malpractice in a companyhe was acting as a director in?

I believe he came out of this smelling like roses.He had committed no crime and he may have even started the investigation.

Eddie is seen as a public watchdog,so his name endorsing an investment like this can carry alot of weight.

Sony

Some financial institutions/life companies have similar schemes to this commercial propety one...If it is what Im thinking it has the potential to reap some very nice rewards(double your money) but to be honest Im not entirely convinced about this Hobbs adventure...nothing to do with Hobbs himself, I think he's smart when it comes to showing how to sort yourself out financially but think about it.....WHY oh why should Eddie be considered to be someone that should be trusted when it comes to investing money? The largest fund managers in Ireland alone have got countless years of experience with market/property related issues-Investing with them or waiting for a nice opportunity to come up with them would surely be better than taking the risk with this scheme.

If you have 100k to play with then fair enough you might lob 20 of it in but for anyone who's savings are all they've got (most people) I think a lot of research needs to be done before investing here:)

eddie sold out long ago with his shameless promotion of Cape Verde...the desolate group of african islands he claimed was the next big thing. he will be making a monumental commission on this fund he's raising. thats not to say you mightnt make good money from it, but eddie aint all the sweetness he presents

A Random Walk

I've looked more closely and I can't find any details as to the track record of the promoters in commercial property?

Vincent Regan is a UCD Commerce Graduate, formerly a revenue auditor and Director with Deloitte, and now a property developer. He is mainly active in Portugal and Ireland, but also has property dealings in Germany and the UK

That tells me nothing, he was an auditor and now he wants our money to invest in property? Show me the money as Eddie would say.

stepbar

Its amazing to see that there is still an appetite out there for property, In the past year BOI (BOI Life more specifically) launched 4 property syndicates - In Glasgow, Manchester, Paris and more recently Amsterdam. All of the syndicates were fully subscribed in a matter of days*(*the Amsterdam property will sell out in in the next week). Well in excess of 80 mil has been raised to date. All of the properties in question are commericial properties with good return yields and in prime locations.

Eddie Hobbs may just succeed, personally I wouldn't invest in him or his company. His financial advice is not all that complicated TBH, if you are to base it on the advice he gives in a lot of his programmes.

imalegend

stepbar wrote:

Its amazing to see that there is still an appetite out there for property, In the past year BOI (BOI Life more specifically) launched 4 property syndicates - In Glasgow, Manchester, Paris and more recently Amsterdam. All of the syndicates were fully subscribed in a matter of days*(*the Amsterdam property will sell out in in the next week). Well in excess of 80 mil has been raised to date. All of the properties in question are commericial properties with good return yields and in prime locations.

Eddie Hobbs may just succeed, personally I wouldn't invest in him or his company. His financial advice is not all that complicated TBH, if you are to base it on the advice he gives in a lot of his programmes.

I agree...His advice is just cop-on and every knows what they should do with money but they just dont do it.If you were 2 live his way you cant buy a pair of shoes unless you own a house!!ha ha.....He is all about the balance sheet!!

I wouldnt invest in him either as what does he know bar his"team" studying the market for 18 months.A whole 18 months you say!!!He is just advertising this as he knows its a hard sell where as it shouldnt be as the BOI example above selling out so quick with their years of proven experience in investing!!!Hmmm which 2 go for a disgraced company MD or a proven company who makes millions each year.

The product seems fine to me. It would appear to be a reasonable way for the excluded (outside their budget) investor to buy into the foreign property market.

It might sit quiet nicely as part of an overall portfolio of investments as the property mix and geographical diversification are good.

I would, however, be relucatant to borrow money to invest in it and would be concerned that the true effects of gearing may not be fully understood by the target market.

democrates

I thought Eddie Hobbs had two hats, one the peoples champion, but also an investment advisor for individuals, though I've no reason to believe these were investing lage amounts or how well he did for them. Did anyone get his new book? (I lent it to my Dad for a week as soon as I got it and that was months ago).

Personally I've no issue with Eddie Hobbs so far, he's a non-executive director and while the property syndicate for the masses is his brainchild it's the executive team who can sign cheques (must suss the details on that) then trading partners and service suppliers to consider for risk.

Also there's property markets in general in the context of the global economy. It's good to see Germany there giving it's way behind other property markets, the economy is big and while no tiger, tends to be relentless over time. I think Germany is due for some serious capital appreciation, you can still get a cheap apartment in a big city for under €50,000.

I'm concerned at the risk of a global recession, this could be triggered by contagion from the US sub-prime sector, hedge funds unwinding their exposure to the yen carry trade (given Japans 0% interest rate is over), China switching its trillions in dollar reserves to euro, or war on Iran, the list goes on.

BendiBus

I'm quite astonished to see the idea of borrowing to invest in an already geared fund being promoted to the casual investor. Furthermore, The example calculation of potential gains on a doubly geared invesement conveniently excludes the interest cost of a 10 year interest-only loan! :eek: Remember the era of ultra-low interest rates is over. If Eddie Hobbs had his consumer protection hat on he would be horrified at this!

Also, the brochure repeatedly pushes the projected returns in the 12-16% range and then says the fund managers will give themselves a performance bonus if they manage to exceed a relatively measly 8%. Dare I suggest a ripoff?

This may turn out to be a good fund to invest in, but the brochure makes me suspicious. Without a 'name' like Eddie Hobbs attached, most people would run a mile. Unfortnately I can see people using their life savings, and borrowing the same again, to invest in this product because Eddie said it's OK. And sure Eddie wouldn't mislead us!

I hope it works out for them.

Declaration of interest: I can't stand Eddie Hobbs since his 'Ripoff Ireland' TV show.

radioactiveman

In his 'you and your money' magazine a few weeks ago he recommended investing in european property as the best investment at the moment, followed closely by energy stocks (i.e. oil and gas).
Granted it was just in passing in an article but it would make you wonder about the motivations of his recommendations (although he could genuinely believe in it as an investment).
Still very risky for him personally though if it doesn't work out.

imeddyhobbs

dunkamania wrote:

I have lost a lot of respect for eddie over the last few months.

Why?

Sony

I dont dislike or disagree with anything Eddie Hobbs has to say.

That statement above in my own opinion is exactly what Eddie Hobbs is about, His advice as pointed out already are everyday pointers any financial advisor strives to make. The thing is theres absolutely no reason why Eddie should be considered more reliable than ANYONE else in the business after all what exactly has he done of great significance apart from charm the nation.

Cape Verde as mentioned and how about Northern Rock , Eddie has been raving about this bank for years and his very convenient response to what happened this week was ' ah well none saw that one coming'

Well in fairness Eddie Im pretty sure theres no gaurantee or gauranteed return with your current project I wonder if the investors to his new scheme will be hearing that one in years to come.

Also I was astonished that he mentioned they had been analysing for 18 months...what a statement....surely he could have mentioned something along the lines of the team having countless years exp analysing markets instead.

Each to their own, Im sure every man and his dog in Cork will be enlisting for Eddie on this one but I certainly wont!

Sonnenblumen

stepbar wrote:

Its amazing to see that there is still an appetite out there for property, In the past year BOI (BOI Life more specifically) launched 4 property syndicates - In Glasgow, Manchester, Paris and more recently Amsterdam. All of the syndicates were fully subscribed in a matter of days*(*the Amsterdam property will sell out in in the next week). Well in excess of 80 mil has been raised to date. All of the properties in question are commericial properties with good return yields and in prime locations.

Eddie Hobbs may just succeed, personally I wouldn't invest in him or his company. His financial advice is not all that complicated TBH, if you are to base it on the advice he gives in a lot of his programmes.

In fairness he's doing nothing different to what BIAM have been doing, geared commercial property speculation, and as you say despite BIAM having much higher entry thresholds, and fully subscribed in days only proves there's an appetite and I'd be pretty sure there's also an interest in Brendan Investments.

I'm not participating but for different reasons but I'd say go for it Eddie and hope it works out. I'm sure BIAM will be hoping the same with their 7 year exit strategies etc.

Plenty of knockers but clear as day they're not the target really. Give him credit for trying to do something, he'll probably be more targetted the next time and avoid all the whinging knockers.

READ THE PROSPECTUS, some can, most won't!!!

Sony

Yeah youre probably right about the whingers, i suppose in a roundabout way I AM knocking Eddie. I really do hope it does well!

I dont mean to to knock it honestly, I suppose Im a little concerned that people will place trust in this scheme a little too easily just because of who is looking after it for them.

I work in Investments myself (I wont say with who but we're well known and successful) and so Im understandbly very apprehensive when it comes to putting my own money away - I just wish that the public were better informed about this type of thing because the reality is that these type of products are sold by agents who earn commision and god knows that i know enough whom I wouldnt seek advice from in an emergency.

Something Im sure the financial regulator are still trying to get a grip on - the 'mis-guidance'

Sony

Sony wrote:

I work in Investments myself (I wont say with who but we're well known and successful) and so Im understandbly very apprehensive when it comes to putting my own money away - I just wish that the public were better informed about this type of thing because the reality is that these type of products are sold by agents who earn commision and god knows that i know enough whom I wouldnt seek advice from in an emergency.

Something Im sure the financial regulator are still trying to get a grip on - the 'mis-guidance'

Hi Sony,

What would you do to make sure that the 'public were better informed' ?

Do the agents, that you refer to above, place business with your company?

Sony

Yes, They most certainly do place a lot of business with the company.

I personally feel that the agents are not adequately trained to be selling the products to be perfectly honest with you (not ALL-some are very good). I know this much because I spend a lot of my day giving these agents advice on investments and markets when it really should be the other way around.

Mr Gerard Im sorry I never said there was anything that could be done , I just said that I wished the public were better informed - I was sensitively implying that a lot of the public don't have enough cop on when it comes to investing their money and they are very willing to take people for their word when identifying what suits their needs, something Im afraid nobody can do much about.

In saying that I think stricter measures could be in place to prevent agents from glorifying certain products. Although i dont doubt that customers are being given accurate information I've also no doubt that there are a lot of times when customers are not properly informed about certain aspects of their 'chosen' product which would potentially throw them off the investment.

Don't get me wrong. I agree with you, and was just curious to hear if you might have had any innovative was of educating the masses.

The Regulator had taken some steps in this regard and I believe that other efforts are a work-in-progress. Unfortunately, this will not happen overnight as one would wish but I do think some further steps should be taken to include Financial Service on the curriculum.

Sorry for straying off the theme of this thread but Gerared Property is an area that should have more disclosure on it, voluntary or otherwise.

Cantoris

You all seem to be missing the real rip off here. Its in the small print. Eddie is saying he ois not going to charge investors and entry fee complaining that investment houses get money for nothing that way.

Investment houses charge 2-5% entry on equity inested. So in fast eddies case the investment house would charge say 3% on 250m or 7.5.. An investment house will also charge about 1-2% annual management fee on equity invested or about 4m per annum for ten years which is 40m and add the 7.5 upfront fee gives around 47.5m lost to the investment house on fees.

Now fast eddie doesn't charge an upfront fee but charges 1% on the value of the portfolio annually. That's 1% of a billion or 10m. Over ten years that's 100m.

Bet none of you saw that coming!! It is a fees rip-off. Don't focus on the people, focus on the fees. Most investment houses have performance bonus starting at 10% plus not at 8%. And most will hope to double your money in five to seven years, particularly if it is riskier development property. With that the aim should be double money at end of investment...say four years down the line.

Enough said.

democrates

I wonder how the ordinary punters appetite for risk has been affected in the aftermath of northern rock. That aside is the 75% gearing going to be easy with a credit crunch?

Cantoris

Not easy at all given they have no track record. Important they have no recourse to investors for capital element of loan. Does it mention in the brochure if there is recoure or not on the debt? I would also like to know what sort of margins they will be charged before going into it.

Kehoejck

Overall, I do not think we should prejudge against this scheme just because its being run Eddy Hobbs and that some do not like him. Also, as Sony said we should be as weary towards this scheme as any other.

The one thing that really maddens me is that they are using Eddy as a publicity stunt to get people who as such "trust" him and think he is some form of expert. I think this form of advertising should be cracked down upon and the financial regulator should warn people to go to a stock borker or someone with a professional opinion about the scheme. I realy hope this scheme does work out for those people who invested "blindly" as such.

Also, the Finacial Regulator have "supposedly" approved of the prospectus.

Has anyone here actually read most of it and can give us an un-biased overview of the investment?

BendiBus

Has anyone attended the Brendan Investments Roadshow?

I'm thinking of dropping into The Davenport after work this evening to see what all the fuss is about.

bottomdog

In a nutshell, the 'boys' want the joe bloggs punters to invest €250m in a euro property fund that they will manage and invest on your behalf. For this they charge a cool 1% per year, or 10% over the ten year locked in term. A cool €25 million for buying some fancy commercial property in europe and checking the bank account every month just in case some German Blue Chip somehow forgets to transfer the rent across. Sorry Eddie I grew up in Rip Off Ireland but €25 million for buying €250m worth of commercial property, which could amount to only 20 tenents is not on. I understand its not getting support.....wonder why ?

Cantoris

bottomdog wrote: »

In a nutshell, the 'boys' want the joe bloggs punters to invest €250m in a euro property fund that they will manage and invest on your behalf. For this they charge a cool 1% per year, or 10% over the ten year locked in term. A cool €25 million for buying some fancy commercial property in europe and checking the bank account every month just in case some German Blue Chip somehow forgets to transfer the rent across. Sorry Eddie I grew up in Rip Off Ireland but €25 million for buying €250m worth of commercial property, which could amount to only 20 tenents is not on. I understand its not getting support.....wonder why ?

Its actually 1 per cent on value of the fund i.e. circa 1 billion and not 250 mill. Thats 10 mill a year or 100 mill over ten years. and you thought 25 mill was a rip off!!!

bottomdog

Not to mention the little extras that can be picked up through various 'external' prefessional fees, legal fees, etc - I'm sure Eddie knows an appreciative few who would be grateful the cut from the spend.

Cantoris

I believe it is struggling and he has had to increase the max investment amount to get a few of the bigger guys involved. Shane Ross gave him a roasting too so think Brendan Investments might be dying a slow and horrible death.

kaiser sauze

I do not like this investment either. What no-one has mentioned yet is that part of the portfolio is in Ireland.

Enough there to make me run a marathon, and I ain't fit.

It is a far more complicated scheme than the ads suggest, so grill the salesman if you're still going to consider it. There are two interest rates, because of the gearing (borrowing on the strength of the invested monies), so get clarification as to how much the fund is liable for and find out if the directors get paid, aside from the performance bonus, even if the fund does poorly.

portomar

Disclosure: I don't like eddie hobbs ever since he was involved in the abolition of the below cost selling order, not for any principles involved but because i heard him and others in the same campaign say on radio and tv a number of times something along the lines of:

"...clothes and manafactured gtoods have fallen in price by 20% in the past 20-25 years, the same hasn't happened for food, and the groceries order is why"

no its not douche bag, turn over that rubber duck or that jeans label, wheres it made?? and do we want our bread made there and carrotts grown there and shipped over!?

In relation to european property, someone mentioned that theres apartments in berlin on sale for €50 grand? i also heard theres more than 100,000 vacant flats in the city, know your market.

AS for geared investment in property, change the record, all property is most probably reaching a top, and gearing finance and using interest only loans is plain dangerous in the current credit and property environment. And its looking at irish property too!!?? yea that'll deliver a great return. And the fees seem a blatant ripp off, not sure ive ever heard off a fee based on the funds actual value? anyone else??

mike65

mega post Celtic Tiger bump!

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-financial-adviser-who-became-a-ubiquitous-celebrity-3031392.html

Unfortunately, Mr Hobbs and the other Brendan promoters -- Dermot Flanagan, Vincent Regan and Hugh O'Neill, couldn't have picked a worse time to have invested in property.

Brendan was launched in September 2007, just a month after the credit crunch brought the era of cheap money, which had fuelled the Noughties property boom, shuddering to a halt.

While the full extent of the carnage was not fully apparent in the autumn of 2007 the warning lights were already flashing.

Things haven't quite worked out as planned for Brendan. Despite the best efforts of Mr Hobbs and his colleagues, the €50m which they hoped to raise from investors proved unattainable, with only €13m being raised, of which €600,000 came from Mr Hobbs himself. Whatever else one might say about Brendan, Mr Hobbs can't be accused of not putting his money where his mouth was.

Unfortunately, instead of the hoped-for 15pc annual returns, the Brendan fund has lost over 30pc of its value over the past four years. This is despite Brendan having concentrated most of its investment in the booming German property market. How was this possible?

Perhaps Mr Hobbs will be able to provide viewers with an answer when the latest series of his 'Consumer Show' airs on RTE television this spring.