# Storm Financial exposure list



## Monario (15 January 2009)

Hi all, after some recent interest here and on other forums I have decided to start a list of people who have been exposed to the recent debacle of Storm financial.... This is purely for the interest of those wanting more accurate figures of the number of people, storm have stated that some 230 clients are effected, I believe the number is much higher..

Rules for adding to the list.

1) Initials only to be added, no full names what so ever.

2) Please only add yourself, and record what number you are on the list to avoid confusion for yourself, i.e. one set of initials per portfolio exposed.

3) If you add other peoples initials, it must be done with their permission. And emaill them a link to this forum, ater all the more people here reading, the more informartion likely to come out.

4) Feel free to post any relevant info, but please keep banter to a minmum, or use the other storm thread on this forum.

Hope this works...


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## Monario (15 January 2009)

*Re: Storm Financial exposure list.*

1) JMM


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## Glen48 (15 January 2009)

Storm victims had a closed meeting in Redcliffe Q last night. Local agents aren't answering the phone.


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## Jifromoz (15 January 2009)

2) KJL


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## Smiley (15 January 2009)

HR 
This is a good idea.
I just got an email from Macquarie, as they are my lender, and they are closing down all margin loans.  There goes the pittance I still had in the market.  Anyone else have this happen?


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## Jifromoz (15 January 2009)

Smiley said:


> HR
> This is a good idea.
> I just got an email from Macquarie, as they are my lender, and they are closing down all margin loans.  There goes the pittance I still had in the market.  Anyone else have this happen?




Smiley, When I got involved I recommended to my In-Laws to close the loan immediately. They were paying monthly interest of around 8.5% on the margin loan and around 4% payable quarterly on the Cash Management Trust. Despite my In-Laws faxing in a request on the 24th it was actually NOT repaid until earlier this week(After much jumping up and down on behalf. Politely of course). I asked them to backdate but I have'nt seen the statements to do my own calculations. If they haven't I will need to progress it further with them and maybe the Ombudsman.


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## Ijustnewit (15 January 2009)

4) TFJ

Thanks for starting this thread, Monario.


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## shibby (16 January 2009)

5) LJM
I hope this does achieve a more realistic figure


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## Monario (16 January 2009)

6)LJM
7)SR


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## Mash (16 January 2009)

(8) DJL
I  have a list of about 30 clients who have lost it all but wait to see who adds on. Maybe the locality/city would be a good idea too.
Rockhampton.
We just have to pull together and knowing we are not the only ones gives us strength.
Good idea Monario


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## Jifromoz (16 January 2009)

Rockhampton


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## Cashew (16 January 2009)

(9) BGW - Perth


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## maggiemay (18 January 2009)

GNP 10 
:
KEP  11 :shoot:
mackay


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## Monario (18 January 2009)

12)MJM

12) TM


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## Monario (18 January 2009)

13) NP


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## scratchthecat (19 January 2009)

Hi Everyone

Firstly thoughts are with you, we know what you're going through.

14) SW and AW in Brisbane
15) Parents NW and CW in Brisbane

Started reading the forum a while back but gave up due to the idiot comments posted by many who were trusting only what's been in the media.

We were with Storm for nearly 12 years, paid off our neg equity position and are proceeding with our own litigation against their PI insurance and have appointed MacDonnells.  We also met with McCullough Robertson who were excellent with initial advice but were going to be too pricey.  

There is a get together in Redcliffe (northern Brisbane) tomorrow, however we are not going.


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## Julia (19 January 2009)

Scratchthecat,  Good luck.

Don't want to contaminate this thread, but could you on the other thread give a brief outline of how clients stand legally?

Would Storm have had sufficient professional indemnity insurance to cover losses?

Can you comment on the allegations that loan applications contained inflated property valuations and income levels?


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## Smiley (20 January 2009)

There are many legal precedents on what is considered reasonable advice and they are a basis for suing.
Anyone have a Townsville support group phone number?  I'm just intereseted in what others are experiencing, saying - not supporting Storm philosophy.


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## hart2hart (20 January 2009)

Add to the list NH Sydney


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## scratchthecat (20 January 2009)

We are waiting for the official advice and statement of position from the lawyers which should be with us by the end of this week.   

We had a chat with them yesterday regarding the administration and they said that they suspect that the ability to claim against Storm's PI may have closed now that they are in administration, we are waiting for confirmation of this in writing.  Luckily we asked the lawyers to write to Storm before Christmas advising them we were proceeding with litigation and advising them to notify their insurers, we have a written response from Storm that this was done but have not received anything in writing from the insurers.

You may want to check with your legal advisers as to whether you can still proceed with claiming against the PI if that is your strategy.


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## scratchthecat (20 January 2009)

Julia said:


> Scratchthecat,  Good luck.
> 
> Don't want to contaminate this thread, but could you on the other thread give a brief outline of how clients stand legally?
> 
> ...




Julia

I'm not willing to get into how other individuals stand, it's complicated and unique for everyone so I'd just say to get your own advice and talk to others to see what they have been advised.

We are not going down the class action route, we are claiming against their PI for failing to manage our portfolio according to their statement of service.  Our advice from two different legal firms (NOT the ones who advertise on highway billboards!) was that this was the best option for us.  It did not cost much to have these two meetings to outline our situation and get guidance and really helped us to clarify our plan.

We are original clients from the days of Cassimatis Securities and had the same advisor (Mr S.D.  - Director) for over 10 years.  We have no experience with the dodgy dealings that have been reported.  We don't read any news articles or forum postings that talk about the "gold plated loos" as facts clearly aren't high on their journalistic radar.


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## Smiley (22 January 2009)

I know SD and all the advisers and people who have worked at Storm for years.  Plenty of dodgy dealings and Storm Investors Consumer Action Group is the way to go to recoup a sense of empowerment - meeting in Townsville next week.  If not keep believing in them  . . . perhaps they will resurrect through Ignite and the faithful can get more "financial planning".


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## sqwark7600 (22 January 2009)

A word of warning. The enemy also trolls these threads. Be careful.
:badsmile:


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## rory4 (22 January 2009)

16)
PT - Townsville
Thank you for starting this thread.  I am a former client of Storm and have been reading the blogs for the last two weeks.  I honestly feel that since July I was being lied to about my true financial position and as many others have said, I was encouraged to believe that everything was fine.  I am fortunate not to have leveraged my house as a number of my friends and colleagues have but have lost every ounce of savings we have put in over the last three years.  In October I telephoned my storm adviser and asked to be sold down and have my margin facility closed.  I was talked out of it and was told that if I just converted my equities to cash then I could buy back in when things started to pick up (I stupidly did not take notes of the conversation and only have my word to go on). I now believe that advice was to ensure that I remained a revenue stream for storm and the banks at some point in the future rather than in my interests.

My last statement (june to sept qtr) that I received from my margin lender (Macquarie) showed that my lvr was 78% with a maximum gearing level of 82%.  From October until mid December i never received a phone call from Storm or Macquarie Bank telling me I was in Margin call.  I did receive 2 calls  from Storm during that time asking me to put more money into my CMT to improve my buffer which I stupidly assumed to be at an lvr less than 82%.  When things started to hit the media with storm, I phoned again to be told that I could not be fitted in for an appointment before christmas and that someone would phone me back.  I was not phoned back.  I phoned storm again on Jan 5 and was informed by my adviser that I was in a positive equity position and that my lvr was 94% -94%!!!  The furphy here was that in comparison to my margin loan I was in a positive equity position, however they conveniently skipped over the fact that this did not include the additional investment loan from anz that I was recommended to also take out.  I knew this immediately  but there are so many clients who would not have realised that the advice provided to them regarding their equity positions would not have taken into account the money they borrowed against their home.

I have two friends who had been advised to borrow against their homes.  In August and September, my friends had been contacted by Storm and told that their homes had been revalued higher and they should immediately access the extra equity and invest in the market.  Both of them questioned this advice and were told it was a "sound investment decision - Storm wouldn't be encouraging this if it wasn't etc etc".  In hindsight, they both feel it was encouraged purely for the purpose of raking out another 7.5% in desperately needed fees.  The information provided at the creditors meeting regarding the revenue downturn would pretty much verify this.  The amounts they were asked to further leverage were around the $100k mark.   ex storm employees reading this may be able to confirm their suspicions also.

As to my latest position - I've contacted Macquarie bank on 15 jan to immediately close my margin loan and redeem all managed funds that still remain invested.  As of today, the facility still has not been closed.  I've contacted the bank a number of times and also sent a letter of complaint to them about the delay.  They have refused to waive my break fee and have told me that my funds would be redeemed at the unit price on the day they eventually get around to actioning my request, not as at the day (or even the day after) i requested the closure.  And of course, the market has fallen since then.......

I am yet to get a response to my letter of complaint (it was sent this morning however by email so wouldn't expect one so rapidly given their response times on routine requests).

I also asked the question to the young fella on the phone as to how I would be allowed to have an lvr at 94% without receiving a margin call when my max gearing level as stated on my last statement with the bank was 82%.  I didn't really get a coherent response - or at least one i could understand, and up until this situation I did not consider myself to be a stupid person......  Has anybody else checked their latest statements from Macquarie and is in the same situation??  Can anyone explain this to me??  I asked the same question to an FPA appointed FP yesterday and he was equally puzzled.

That's my story, I am absolutely certain that anyone who is not in a negative equity position with storm would be very close to a zero equity position - absolutely nothing to show for years and years of money constantly invested and their concerns constantly glossed over.....  I would appreciate any advice from anyone who is in a similar position to me about what they think is the best course of action.  

I'm looking forward to the Townsville meeting next week.....


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## Julia (22 January 2009)

rory4 said:


> 16)
> PT - Townsville
> 
> As to my latest position - I've contacted Macquarie bank on 15 jan to immediately close my margin loan and redeem all managed funds that still remain invested.



Did you do this in writing, clearly dated?



> As of today, the facility still has not been closed.  I've contacted the bank a number of times and also sent a letter of complaint to them about the delay.  They have refused to waive my break fee and have told me that my funds would be redeemed at the unit price on the day they eventually get around to actioning my request, not as at the day (or even the day after) i requested the closure.  And of course, the market has fallen since then.......



That doesn't sound reasonable.  On that basis a loan provider could leave your letter lying around for months.  Can someone else comment as to whether this is normal practice?  
Not waiving the break fee doesn't seem unreasonable, though from the bank's point of view at least.






> I also asked the question to the young fella on the phone as to how I would be allowed to have an lvr at 94% without receiving a margin call when my max gearing level as stated on my last statement with the bank was 82%.  I didn't really get a coherent response - or at least one i could understand, and up until this situation I did not consider myself to be a stupid person......  Has anybody else checked their latest statements from Macquarie and is in the same situation??  Can anyone explain this to me??  I asked the same question to an FPA appointed FP yesterday and he was equally puzzled.



So what was the course of action suggested by your FPA appointed FP?


Mods, maybe move this to the general Storm thread?


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## stung (24 January 2009)

Add me to the list.

I know  a client who submitted a 'Stop Loss' form and hand delivered it to the Storm Brisbane office. When the instructions were not followed he was told by his advisor that they did not cash the client out because they lost the form. Having read all the stories about how they discouraged every one from cashing out I have to wonder whether the form was lost or perhaps just filed in the bin.


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## maccka (24 January 2009)

*Storm Investor Consumer Action Group (SICAG)*

Just thought you might be interested to know that the Storm Investor Consumer Action Group (SICAG) are starting to get up and running and have started to put together a website (not quite finished but starting to look very good).

http://stormfinancial.info/index.htm

They are holding a meeting in Townsville next Wednesday night.

Details about the meeting can be found here.

http://stormfinancial.info/index_files/Page716.htm

The e-mail contact for the NQ chapter of the group is sicag_tsv@live.com.au


Hope this helps you. Good luck.


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## Mash (7 February 2009)

SICAG looking at meetings in Rocky (24th Feb) Mackay & Cairns. Need numbers to make sure it happens.Please register interest on sicag pleaase.


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