Mis-Sold Pensions Claims: InvestUS
Many UK investors saw promise in sinking their pensions into an overseas property firm. InvestUS (also doing business as Real Estate Investments USA PLC) attracted considerable attention with its strong business model. The firm intended to buy up repossessed properties throughout the United States, renovate them, and then either let them or sell them on.
InvestUS marketing materials suggested that investors could see 15 per cent returns in only three years. Returns would be even larger when money was re-invested around the US. InvestUS was targeted at (amongst others) investors using SIPPs, or Self-Invested Personal Pensions.
Making An InvestUS Claim
Regardless of the advice you received, InvestUS was a high-risk unregulated investment. These are not wholly subjective terms; the investment rates that way in the eyes of the FCA.
Investments like this have a higher chance of failing than FCA-regulated investments. They’re also outside the FSCS compensation pot, meaning investors have no immediate recourse if the firm goes into liquidation.
Prior to recommending an investment in InvestUS or other high-risk ventures, your adviser had a responsibility to confirm that you were a suitable investor.
That means confirming that you were:
- A High Net Worth Individual. This means owning at least £250k of assets outside your pension and home or earning at least £100k a year.
- A Sophisticated Investor. This means possessing both experience and knowledge suitable for actively managing high-risk investments.