I've been working for them in the past and I can tell you there were some good guys out there, but there were also some very rotten appels. Usually used car sales men, scam artists and some even convicted and banned 'brokers'.
These were the type of 'advisors', some with made up licenses hanging from their walls, that would sell you a nice story without giving you all the prints and small lettering, telling you it's fine to pauze your investment after 18 months. The reason why he said this is because once you sign that piece of paper, he will get his full commission the next month which for a regular plan would be 2% of the entire invested amount. So lets say they convince you to invest 1000 USD a month for 25 years with the promise that you can pauze it without penalty after 18 months, what he actually is doing is upping his commission as he could easily sign you on a 5 year deal as well and after evaluating that 5 years down the line, simply extend... With that 1000 USD a month, 12k a year and a total of 300k in 25 years time, he just made himself 6000 USD. Be amazed that some people even were convinced to invest 2500 or 5000 a month... These plans are not made to invest only 12 or 18 months, you need to keep investing otherwise your total value just gets eaten away because the charges do not stop!
I hear you thinkin. He didn't tell me that when I signed? Guess why... after the 18 months are done, the commission is 100% his and you can not touch it anymore. In Austen Morris language that means you do not longer exist and they will stop taking your calls and answering emails. You could be that sucker that falls for it again and they have a nose for that, they'll just re-sell you plans or telling you to 'up' the investment which basically comes down to the same. Your money goes down in a pit full of charges and the advisor is spending it on booze and hookers in the bar. oh and the actual financial advice? Most of these guys have no clue, they use a monthly general update provided by one of the internal witty guys (if available) and simply handpick some of the 'likely to increase' funds, switch you to those just to play along and pretend they care to simply forget about you again.
They invented a great online system which made it able for you to follow your investment from anywhere in the world, basically making themselves having to do even less, and even charge you 1-2% for it annually!
Need to hear references of people that happily finished their plans? Look no further, there are none. The average time that a 25 yr plan is alive is around 8 years, usually then people realize they have been scammed and their invested money has gone up in smoke. The advisor that singed you is by then long gone and all they offer is either silence or a 'better' plan to get more money off of you.
Sorry to tell you, but you've been screwed.
Unfortunately it took me too long to realize, the workfloor itself is quite nice and you get to work in a fancy office at a young age. But the minute I realized what the place was about i bailed, i still regret having worked there and i feel used and abused being a part of it.
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strand9
, US
1 comments
strand9
of US
Sep 24, 20218:52 am EDT
When I was in Shangahi they sold me on an investment that was in 2006 - I invested 5000 US and my surrender payment - fully matured was 1500 US I would not recumbent them - beware of their extra charges!
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St_D
, US
1 comments
St_D
of US
Jun 13, 20165:46 am EDT
They are supposed to be managing my portfolio for the last 9+ years. With a total return of - 2.5 % (the market took a plunge in 2007, but that was 9 years ago...), I would say that they are doing quite an awful job.
Even worse, I recently received an email from them with some market concerns and their proposal to deal with them. The funny thing is that their proposal goes exactly on the opposite way of what they explain in words (email was to go for conservative funds and to avoid equity market in the US, and the funds that they propose does EXACTLY the opposite).
I would avoid them for any new investment, and from my side, I'll manage my portfolio on my own, being an inexperienced finance person is less risky than letting them deal with my money...
Note : I dealt with their Shanghai office, and the commercial guy who I met and with whom I dealt in 2007 is still there
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E
Edard
, CN
1 comments
Edard
of CN
Jun 30, 20153:06 am EDT
Verified customerThis comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more
Austen Morris has been dealing with my pension of 4 years now and I have a quite a bit more than I had before I let them take over. My only complaint is that they might be a little too conservative, but I guess being safe is better than losing!
I've been working for them in the past and I can tell you there were some good guys out there, but there were also some very rotten appels. Usually used car sales men, scam artists and some even convicted and banned 'brokers'.
These were the type of 'advisors', some with made up licenses hanging from their walls, that would sell you a nice story without giving you all the prints and small lettering, telling you it's fine to pauze your investment after 18 months. The reason why he said this is because once you sign that piece of paper, he will get his full commission the next month which for a regular plan would be 2% of the entire invested amount. So lets say they convince you to invest 1000 USD a month for 25 years with the promise that you can pauze it without penalty after 18 months, what he actually is doing is upping his commission as he could easily sign you on a 5 year deal as well and after evaluating that 5 years down the line, simply extend... With that 1000 USD a month, 12k a year and a total of 300k in 25 years time, he just made himself 6000 USD. Be amazed that some people even were convinced to invest 2500 or 5000 a month... These plans are not made to invest only 12 or 18 months, you need to keep investing otherwise your total value just gets eaten away because the charges do not stop!
I hear you thinkin. He didn't tell me that when I signed? Guess why... after the 18 months are done, the commission is 100% his and you can not touch it anymore. In Austen Morris language that means you do not longer exist and they will stop taking your calls and answering emails. You could be that sucker that falls for it again and they have a nose for that, they'll just re-sell you plans or telling you to 'up' the investment which basically comes down to the same. Your money goes down in a pit full of charges and the advisor is spending it on booze and hookers in the bar. oh and the actual financial advice? Most of these guys have no clue, they use a monthly general update provided by one of the internal witty guys (if available) and simply handpick some of the 'likely to increase' funds, switch you to those just to play along and pretend they care to simply forget about you again.
They invented a great online system which made it able for you to follow your investment from anywhere in the world, basically making themselves having to do even less, and even charge you 1-2% for it annually!
Need to hear references of people that happily finished their plans? Look no further, there are none. The average time that a 25 yr plan is alive is around 8 years, usually then people realize they have been scammed and their invested money has gone up in smoke. The advisor that singed you is by then long gone and all they offer is either silence or a 'better' plan to get more money off of you.
Sorry to tell you, but you've been screwed.
Unfortunately it took me too long to realize, the workfloor itself is quite nice and you get to work in a fancy office at a young age. But the minute I realized what the place was about i bailed, i still regret having worked there and i feel used and abused being a part of it.
When I was in Shangahi they sold me on an investment that was in 2006 - I invested 5000 US and my surrender payment - fully matured was 1500 US I would not recumbent them - beware of their extra charges!
They are supposed to be managing my portfolio for the last 9+ years. With a total return of - 2.5 % (the market took a plunge in 2007, but that was 9 years ago...), I would say that they are doing quite an awful job.
Even worse, I recently received an email from them with some market concerns and their proposal to deal with them. The funny thing is that their proposal goes exactly on the opposite way of what they explain in words (email was to go for conservative funds and to avoid equity market in the US, and the funds that they propose does EXACTLY the opposite).
I would avoid them for any new investment, and from my side, I'll manage my portfolio on my own, being an inexperienced finance person is less risky than letting them deal with my money...
Note : I dealt with their Shanghai office, and the commercial guy who I met and with whom I dealt in 2007 is still there
Austen Morris has been dealing with my pension of 4 years now and I have a quite a bit more than I had before I let them take over. My only complaint is that they might be a little too conservative, but I guess being safe is better than losing!