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Storm Financial Group

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Rogue's Gallery?

http://web.archive.org/web/20070828...mfinancial.com.au/images/galleries/xmas/7.jpg

Sydney staff:
I laughed to see Bernadine has written 'JP Qual' next to her name....wow because you have to study a long time to be a Justice of the Peace!
http://web.archive.org/web/20070828212025/www.stormfinancial.com.au/off_syd.php

Brisbane (Redcliffe) staff:
Hold onto your hats, one of the guys did so well with clients that he was 'qualified for international conventions!' And here's me thinking that qualification consisted of talking EC/your boss into giving you a few days off to sit on a plane for a week long jolly?
http://web.archive.org/web/20070828211551/http://www.stormfinancial.com.au/off_red.php#terry

Brisbane (Nundah) staff:
One of the had a Diploma of Business. Hmmm....
http://web.archive.org/web/20070828211649/www.stormfinancial.com.au/off_nun.php

Brisbane (CBD) staff:
Very much the family affair it would seem.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070828211727/www.stormfinancial.com.au/off_bri.php

I'll see if I can cross reference any of these people with the SICAG members and see if we can draw any conclusions.
 
Well O'Brien is a giveaway, he's the father of one of the Redcliffe 'advisors' (but we all knew that.)

Weir is mentioned here: http://business.smh.com.au/business...rom-threatens-banks-20090220-8dmm.html?page=4

Either way, things ended badly for Weir. Nearly two months after acting on Storm's advice to liquidate all investments, he was contacted by Colonial on December 8 and told that he was in negative equity and owed them $80,000.

No margin call had been made at any time. It would be another month before Storm itself would collapse, but for its clients it was already over.

Strangely, many that the Herald spoke to are not blaming Storm and accept its official verdict that a "Black Swan" event was to blame rather than Storm's leveraged model.

The article also mentioned that he and EC were on the overseas trip together....could well be that they are friends. He doesn't seem to blame Storm for any of his financial gloom either.
 
Ironhalo said:
Well O'Brien is a giveaway, he's the father of one of the Redcliffe 'advisors' (but we all knew that.)

Weir is mentioned here: http://business.smh.com.au/business...rom-threatens-banks-20090220-8dmm.html?page=4

Either way, things ended badly for Weir. Nearly two months after acting on Storm's advice to liquidate all investments, he was contacted by Colonial on December 8 and told that he was in negative equity and owed them $80,000.

No margin call had been made at any time. It would be another month before Storm itself would collapse, but for its clients it was already over.

Strangely, many that the Herald spoke to are not blaming Storm and accept its official verdict that a "Black Swan" event was to blame rather than Storm's leveraged model.

The article also mentioned that he and EC were on the overseas trip together....could well be that they are friends. He doesn't seem to blame Storm for any of his financial gloom either.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have met many here in Townsville who swear by Manny. He is quite a charismatic guy.

So, he is either correct, then miscalculated and the banks are to blame or he is a narcissist who was wrong and still believes he was correct.

Either way many ordinary folk wouldn't know the difference and thus he has a very large following, even in SICAG.

Talk about Townsville is that he will set up again once he gets his FP licence back.

gg
 
I just spoke to my brother and he gave me some rather nice info re: SICAG. He said he spoke to Weir some months ago regarding some information he got from his margin lender bank (Colonial) pertaining to Storm selling down his shares.

My brother (despite sending in the authorisation to his advisor (O'Brien) to sell him down in Oct 08) got hold of an email from the Redcliffe Storm office to Colonial dated sometime in LATE Nov-early Dec (he wouldn't tell me the date as he didn't want to be quoted) that had his name and some other clients on it. Basically the email contained a list of names that Storm wanted sold down. Of course it was far too late at this stage. My brother was amazed from a privacy perspective that Colonial sent him a copy of this with OTHER clients names all over it (another example of how inept Colonial was/is in the whole incident), and felt that SICAG could use the info to get to the bottom of why if took Storm nearly two months to send the Margin Lenders an email.

My brother said that he was told by Weir 'not to believe in the authenticity of the Email, as they (Colonial) could be making anything up'. My brother confirmed that is was legit and told Weir that it clearly showed that BOTH Storm AND the banks were at fault for the late selldown of the investments.

Weir's reposnse? 'That kind of thing doesn't help our cause mate.' My brother found that VERY odd.

I have no doubt that SICAG is a force of good intentions and support for Storm clients (I would be a cold hearted mongrel to think they haven't been a voice of hope and reason and even a lifeline for many Stormers), but it is abundantly clear that they have no intention of implicating their good friends Manny/Julie in the whole affair. As I said, I am sure there have been some interesting dinners being held at Belmont between the two SICAG chairs and the clandestine Cassimatis crew.
 
Ironhalo said:
I just spoke to my brother and he gave me some rather nice info re: SICAG. He said he spoke to Weir some months ago regarding some information he got from his margin lender bank (Colonial) pertaining to Storm selling down his shares.

My brother (despite sending in the authorisation to his advisor (O'Brien) to sell him down in Oct 08) got hold of an email from the Redcliffe Storm office to Colonial dated sometime in LATE Nov-early Dec (he wouldn't tell me the date as he didn't want to be quoted) that had his name and some other clients on it. Basically the email contained a list of names that Storm wanted sold down. Of course it was far too late at this stage. My brother was amazed from a privacy perspective that Colonial sent him a copy of this with OTHER clients names all over it (another example of how inept Colonial was/is in the whole incident), and felt that SICAG could use the info to get to the bottom of why if took Storm nearly two months to send the Margin Lenders an email.

My brother said that he was told by Weir 'not to believe in the authenticity of the Email, as they (Colonial) could be making anything up'. My brother confirmed that is was legit and told Weir that it clearly showed that BOTH Storm AND the banks were at fault for the late selldown of the investments.

Weir's reposnse? 'That kind of thing doesn't help our cause mate.' My brother found that VERY odd.

I have no doubt that SICAG is a force of good intentions and support for Storm clients (I would be a cold hearted mongrel to think they haven't been a voice of hope and reason and even a lifeline for many Stormers), but it is abundantly clear that they have no intention of implicating their good friends Manny/Julie in the whole affair. As I said, I am sure there have been some interesting dinners being held at Belmont between the two SICAG chairs and the clandestine Cassimatis crew.
Click to expand...

Thats extremely interesting. I wonder if the Inquiry will examine this. Probably not.

awg said:
You are joking I assume?

I doubt he will be able to get an AFSL anytime in the forseeable future
Click to expand...

Seemingly he will get an AFSL. Its not all that difficult to get, and the way things are panning out, with the evidence to the inquiry by SICAG higherups, Manny will be very unlucky to even get a mention.

Manny is a lot smarter than many on this forum give him credit.

And the politicians won't be all that keen to slice him up, they'd prefer to go after the banks.

So he'll have SICAG, some Stormers and the Pollies all asking him polite questions.

I might even go and see him meself when he sets up again.

When he starts off he makes a moxa for his clients, its only when the overseas trips start that things start to go bad. I doubt if Manny could handle Kazakistan, so I'll forgoe the Louis Quinze weekends and sip me VB at home in South Townsville.

gg

gg
 
Garpal Gumnut said:
Thats extremely interesting. I wonder if the Inquiry will examine this. Probably not.



Seemingly he will get an AFSL. Its not all that difficult to get, and the way things are panning out, with the evidence to the inquiry by SICAG higherups, Manny will be very unlucky to even get a mention.

Manny is a lot smarter than many on this forum give him credit.


gg
Click to expand...

You may be correct about the AFSL.

I thought being bankrupt, trading whilst insolvent, or even "fit and proper person" conditions may apply, but I couldnt see them during a brief perusal.:eek:

Thing that may slow him up is the proposed tightening of the "advice for commission model."

btw, I dont doubt he is a very smart man.

just like Bernie Madoff.

I disagree that he will not be grilled, I would have many questions for him.

He was in charge, he cannot duck that, that is why Ralph Norris has had to cough up.

I would be absolutely astounded if it turns out he did not make some corporate regulatory slip ups under the pressure he would have been under
 
awg said:
You are joking I assume?

I doubt he will be able to get an AFSL anytime in the forseeable future
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be so sure of that - although I do hope you're right.
Stranger things have happened.
It wouldn't be the first time a bunch of investors have been wiped out, and the bloke in charge of their investments got another licence, re-opened under a new name and carried on as usual.

Come to think of it, has he actually lost his financial planners licence, or whatever qualification or licence he operated under?
 
awg said:
You may be correct about the AFSL.

I thought being bankrupt, trading whilst insolvent, or even "fit and proper person" conditions may apply, but I couldnt see them during a brief perusal.:eek:

Thing that may slow him up is the proposed tightening of the "advice for commission model."

btw, I dont doubt he is a very smart man.

just like Bernie Madoff.

I disagree that he will not be grilled, I would have many questions for him.

He was in charge, he cannot duck that, that is why Ralph Norris has had to cough up.

I would be absolutely astounded if it turns out he did not make some corporate regulatory slip ups under the pressure he would have been under
Click to expand...

bunyip said:
I wouldn't be so sure of that - although I do hope you're right.
Stranger things have happened.
It wouldn't be the first time a bunch of investors have been wiped out, and the bloke in charge of their investments got another licence, re-opened under a new name and carried on as usual.

Come to think of it, has he actually lost his financial planners licence, or whatever qualification or licence he operated under?
Click to expand...

I agree with the tenor of what you guys are saying .

The stormers will lose and Manny in some other guise will get up again.


However I would ask you to consider the following points.


1. SICAG never publishes any adverse press about Manny..never.

2. SICAG publish anything vaguely negative about the banks and their relationship with Storm.

3. SICAG never publish anything negative about the flawed Storm model.

4. The mainstream media have slagged off on Manny without causing a dint in his relationship with Stormers including many in SICAG.

5. The mainstream media thus far have not followed up on the relationship between some in SICAG and Manny, even though SICAG to their credit admit that relationship at the bottom of their site, where the money spider never goes!

5. Many Stormers not involved in SICAG or not higherups in SICAG, suffer a deep and intense shame over their losses and would not front the Inquiry.

6. Many of the Stormers may still believe in the "Storm Model" and feel done in by the banks.

7. The inbuilt biases and relationships of the members of the Inquiry are a bit of a wildcard.


Finally remember that if any of you lost as much dough as Stormers, SICAGERs and Manny, you would all probably behave in the same way as they do now.

gg
 
As I mentioned back in post #2215, one phone call to SICAG was enough to convince me that they won't be saying anything negative about E & J or any of the advisors, despite a poor attempt to appear neutral.
 
my interest in this thread is mainly in the way the system works.

I havnt looked at sicag or that side

during the upcoming inquiry, hopefully a lot of hard questions will get asked.

it is supposed to be looking at systemic issues

I suppose I am naive in expecting that much change will come about

but one thing I am fairly sure of

the bureaucrat who signs off on Mannys AFSL would think long and hard before they put their x on the spot

there is no way he will come up smelling of roses
 
I was fortunate that my level of gearing was low enough originally that I didn't get a margin call - but from what I've read and heard it seems to me that one of the main causes of the losses incurred by many is the sheer size of the Cassimatis Ego. I get the feeling that Manny thought he could practically dictate to the market itself, if not his lenders. Whether Storm passed on sell instructions when given or delayed in the hope of a recovery or a "rescue package" from their lenders is something that I hope comes to light eventually. It seems no-one wants to claim responsibility for pulling the trigger on a margin call - CGI seem to have been waiting for Storm to give the go-ahead, and Storm claim that it should have been CGI's responsibility and they didn't have the necessary data to make a decision. I suspect nobody is being completely truthful and it's likely neither organisation had enough "bodies" to cope with the rapidity of events at the time.

I was monitoring my own position as I'm a bit of a control freak and wouldn't have trusted my "advisor" to do it - he could never return a phone call promptly in calm times as it was. However I had no idea until recently how many of their client base were retired. Most of the "more mature" clients probably lacked a high degree of computer literacy and had been led to believe that E & J were practically their best friends and had been assured so often that the system was "crash-proof" they trusted in what they were told.

I recall reading an article (or it may have been Bernie's submission) where Manny asked the planners who were still owed money to extend the terms of repayment so Storm could move the liability from "current" to "non-current" on their balance sheet prior to going to CBA for another loan to get some of his clients out of margin call. This was as late as Nov or Dec 2008. The fact that he expected to be given a further unsecured loan with the promise of repayment to come "when the market returned to its previous level" I think sums up just how deluded about his own power the man had become by then.

The level of gearing I had was reasonably low, and I am of an age where I have enough working years ahead of me to recover - but I'm still shocked at the level of gearing he had a lot of his retired clients at. Why he didn't convert indexed funds to cash in time to avert disaster is the main question that I think needs to be answered.
 
get over yourselves.... without sicag this thread would have finished long ago...the banks would have walked away smirking at those little old investors they managed to grind into the ground and would not have thought twice at the lives they have helped ruin and the suicides that would have eventuated..... sicag came about because the little guys decided they were not going to be murdered and buried by anyone.... EC was by then exposed for thinking he was bigger than the banks and could play hard ball with the big boys... he wasn't and he couldn't..... the pieces of the puzzle came together..and by a calling to arms we have been able to at least have the wrongdoing looked at ..... without the banks EC could not have done what he did....they were partners in crime....EC and the banks equally liable..... you really are a bunch of conspiracy theorists aren't you...
SICAG ... we will finish strong.;)
BTW...GG ... the critters on the sicag website are ants ( symbolically...one ant can be crushed many in unison can be very annoying.. enough to make the big boys move ... even admit wrongdoing maybe!!).... money spiders!!!!... wrong again GG....:eek:
 
Mash said:
get over yourselves.... without sicag this thread would have finished long ago...the banks would have walked away smirking at those little old investors they managed to grind into the ground and would not have thought twice at the lives they have helped ruin and the suicides that would have eventuated..... sicag came about because the little guys decided they were not going to be murdered and buried by anyone.... EC was by then exposed for thinking he was bigger than the banks and could play hard ball with the big boys... he wasn't and he couldn't..... the pieces of the puzzle came together..and by a calling to arms we have been able to at least have the wrongdoing looked at ..... without the banks EC could not have done what he did....they were partners in crime....EC and the banks equally liable..... you really are a bunch of conspiracy theorists aren't you...
SICAG ... we will finish strong.;)
BTW...GG ... the critters on the sicag website are ants ( symbolically...one ant can be crushed many in unison can be very annoying.. enough to make the big boys move ... even admit wrongdoing maybe!!).... money spiders!!!!... wrong again GG....:eek:
Click to expand...

Mate , this thread was up and running long before SICAG was ever thought of, and also long before the Stormers realised what **** they were in.

So read on brother.

gg
 
GG...at least read the post before you reply..you display the same arrogance EC displayed.... did I say sicag started the thread....no..... yes you started the thread and had very little knowledge of what was actually happening ...that apparantly hasn't changed...
If not for the likes of solly and carey there would be little substance to this thread at all....
BTW please refrain from referring to me as your mate or your brother.:(
 
Garpal Gumnut said:
Either way many ordinary folk wouldn't know the difference and thus he has a very large following, even in SICAG.

Talk about Townsville is that he will set up again once he gets his FP licence back.

gg
Click to expand...

Oh dear, you mean we get to have a sequel someone said the circus would continue for manny years looks like that might come true, I'm curious though if the believers in manny and I take it almost all of them would have been completely ruined financially have little to no capital, were would all the new money come from to invest in his new scheme since I don't believe here in Townsville he would find any new clients other than financially wreaked ex stormers who still believe in him and think it was all the banks fault.
I know he is a great salesman but I just can't see it happening.
 
"Bank of Qld urged to negotiate with Storm clients"

"Clients of failed investment group Storm Financial are urging the Bank of Queensland to follow the Commonwealth Bank's lead and negotiate a settlement.

Storm Investor Action Group spokesman Mark Weir says the Bank of Queensland needs to offer some relief to clients facing debt and financial ruin."

From the ABC here;

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/29/2610983.htm
 
When is SICAG going to pressure Manny to sell 'Casa Paradiso' in Belmont and move into some more modest digs to enable him in his quest to 'fight for justice for my clients until the day I die'?

Oops.

Mash, SICAG are a great support line to Stormers, but you need to question why they refuse to even blame/implicate Manny into this debacle. As it stands, it appears that they are happily going for the bank's jugular, while ensuring Manny and Julie are kept out of it.
 
Garpal Gumnut said:
Either way many ordinary folk wouldn't know the difference and thus he has a very large following, even in SICAG.

Talk about Townsville is that he will set up again once he gets his FP licence back.

gg
Click to expand...

Mash said:
get over yourselves.... without sicag this thread would have finished long ago..
Click to expand...
That seems a rather arrogant assumption, Mash. The debacle that is Storm is ongoing news. We usually discuss newsworthy events of a financial nature.

May I ask you one question? Do you yourself blame Mr Cassimatis - or do you believe everything he suggested, all the strategies he advised clients to adopt - were perfectly fine, and all would have been entirely well had the banks not behaved badly?

It would be good to get this clear.
 

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