News Search Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind Site search Web search Story archive		31-10-2002 Scotsman 'I had done my homework...it seemed so safe' By GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN PETER Martin, a management consultant, believed that he had done his homework before investing 160,000 pounds of his savings in split capital investment trusts. He had read up on the subject and sought out as much advice as he could and he believed that his investment was as safe as any could be. His intention had not been to make a killing on the market, rather to invest what he could in the belief that he would get his capital back plus a modest amount of interest. He certainly did not consider that he was taking any unreasonable risks in the hope of large short-term gains. Instead, he now finds that his investment has been slashed by at least £80,000 and so it was with a growing sense of astonishment that he listened to Chris Fishwick address the Commons Treasury Committee and express disdain for how little investors understood of the complex financial web that he controlled. "I'm not an experienced investor in the market but everybody seemed to say you should look at this, it gave a good return and was absolutely safe. I did a fair amount of work on this. "When I invested this money it wasn't double or quits, it was 7 or 8 per cent, so, although I can see there might be daily fluctuations in interest rates, the idea of wipeout never occurred to me. We knew that at a given date we were going to get our money back, plus X per cent. "I've always invested cautiously and I feel that I have been mugged. That money was meant to be saved for a rainy day, saved for retirement. It never occurred to me that it was in any way risky. If I had known what I know now, I would never have touched it." He said he was angry that Mr Fishwick had tried to distance himself from the large bonuses he was paid by claiming that the money had been awarded by various remuneration committees. "I think the whole thing is appalling. I'm very happy with people being rewarded for success but people are being rewarded not only for failure, but it seems to me that they were taking money under false pretence," he said. Mr Martin has joined the legal class action against Aberdeen Asset Management and he said that he hoped that it might be possible to get back some money from Mr Fishwick and the others involved in the firm. "It is not the end of the world, but it does make a difference and I feel aggrieved because they sell something as a savings product and tell you it is safe then it's not and I think that is not acceptable." And he said he believed Mr Fishwick knew he was in deep trouble and was now doing everything he could to save himself. "I think he is in denial. I think he'll be carried off screaming, denying that it was anything to do with him, but it is clear that the whole thing was just a pyramid scheme. "I hope the chickens come home to roost with him and in the meantime we may get some of our money back. No doubt it will be a long haul."
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