Swiss Life Alpha and Alpha Plus are Variable Universal Life targeted at high networth individuals who would like to have a high amount of insurance. The insurance is to be funded by any investments of their choice. In fact, it is possible to use existing investments to fund the insurance. Here is how the Swiss Life Alpha works: Let’s say the death benefit (or sum assured) required is … [Read more...]
These are the list of articles relevant to high networth individuals
Here’s a video by a bank on how it anyhow sell Universal Life
One of my client sent me this webinar video on legacy planning. The first 11 minutes is educational and I generally agree with the speaker. So you can safely watch first 11 minutes without much harm. But after that, it started selling "koyok" - Universal Life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW89KGi5AJY The speaker uses Universal Life as a debt cancellation tool and as well as the income … [Read more...]
High networth asking govt for help because of poor financial planning
There was a letter written to the Sunday Times on 19th February 2017 about a high networth (or at least behaving like one) who was so cash scrapped that she asked whether the government can help her. Here is the letter: A few facts that can be directly derived from the letter: The writer is a retiree. The writer has two housing loans. The writer refinanced the two loans to get a … [Read more...]
Spectacular collapse of the LM Investment Management Limited
I was first introduced to LM Investment Management Limited by an institution on May 2008. It was to be offered to high networth or Accredited Investors. It was an Australian fund manager. The fund that was introduced to me was the LM Currency Protected Australia Income Fund. The returns were generally 100bps more than the standard fixed deposit rates as shown below: Despite its attractive … [Read more...]
Vanguard funds in Singapore at just US$ 20,000!
Vanguard is the world’s most famous index fund provider. Vanguard came to our office a few years ago but nothing happened after that. My problem with them is that their funds required a whopping minimum of USD 100,000 or EUR 100,000. It is impossible to construct a diversified portfolio with such a large entry level. Moreover, their funds were not on any of the platform. So, it was impossible … [Read more...]
The broken Umbrella: Platinum All Weather Fund
The Platinum All Weather Fund invested in complicated derivative transactions. The fund shorted out-of-the-money 'calls' on the S&P 100 index stocks and the long out-of-the-money 'puts' on the index. The underlying fund manager was impressive. It was reported that since 1990, the fund manager delivered decent returns with low volatility. With such long track record, it must be a good … [Read more...]
Disappearing Castlestone Collection of Modern Art
The Castlestone Collection of Modern Art fund was launched in March 2009. It invested in a diversified collection of museum-quality Post-War Art. The art pieces were non-producing/deceased artists with established secondary markets (Christie’s/Sotheby’s). This fund was only offered to Accredited Investors. The Castlestone Collection of Modern Art was an open-ended mutual fund, 8-year … [Read more...]
Swiber Holdings defaulted bonds, a commentary on how the system works
The Swiber Holdings is another lemon product sold to Accredited Investors. Here is another article on lemons. As everybody already know by now that Swiber Holdings bonds have defaulted. It seems a lot of people bought its bonds. Who are these individuals? These individuals are rich people known as ‘accredited investors’. According to the Straits Times report, “Swiber saga DBS says bond sales … [Read more...]
Dual Currency for High Networth
Dual Currency is marketed to both retail and accredited investors. It is another lemon product that is meant to reduce the networth of the investor. Many investors thought that if they would to bet on two currencies and get converted to the currency that has weaken over the time period, they get to buy at a lower price. They are wrong as the conversion price used is based at the beginning of … [Read more...]
How the bank take advantage of you through Equity Linked Note (ELN)
Equity Linked Notes or ELNs for short are marketed to Accredited Investors. Here is an example: The ELN is linked with the performance of 15 companies. The ELN earns a fix 4% yield for each year provided the 15 companies’ shares are above certain predetermined share prices known as the strike prices. Typically the strike prices are 20% to 30% below the current prices of these companies. Assume … [Read more...]
