Yianni Cassimatis has begun giving evidence at a public examination into the company's collapse.
More to follow.
From the ABC;
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/21/2720574.htm
Yianni Cassimatis has told the Federal Court he was a researcher at Storm Financial prior to 2006, looking at financial products, including index funds.
Mr Cassimatis has claimed privilege from self-incrimination throughout his evidence.
What does this mean? I'm not a lawyer.
gg
Pretty sure that just means that nothing he says can be taken as a confession. If he indicts himself, they still need to find evidence to prove he is guilty.
"Storm Financial boss Emmanuel Cassimatis told clients they were 'screwed' "
"STORM Financial boss Emmanuel Cassimatis told clients late last year they were "screwed" after their $8 million portfolio had evaporated, an inquiry into the failed advisory firm was told yesterday."
More by Anthony Marx in The Courier Mail here;
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26238068-952,00.html
Ms Lock also told the public examination into Storm's collapse that Mr Cassimatis was contemptuous of clients who did not want to borrow against their home equity to invest. She claimed he dismissed "bloody women and their houses" and attacked their "sentimental attachment" to their dwellings.
Ms Lock said that, after two years of pressure, she gave in and borrowed against her home.
Mindstorm
I admire you for having the character to make a public apology.
Your apology is accepted - no hard feelings at all on my part.
Is your personal situation really as dire as you seem to think? Can you really not see any prospects for your future?
I recall that in an earlier post you spoke of the retirement you'd planned in 20 years or so. That suggests to me that you're in your forties, with a good 20 years or more left in the workforce.
20 years X 50 grand a year means you can earn 1 million dollars before retirement - more if your wife works as well, even part time. More again if you save money along the way and invest it in growth assets like residential real estate and blue chips shares.
You don't know anything about share investment? LEARN.
You don't know anything about real estate investment? LEARN.
There's lots of information available - some of it is in the form of books costing only $30 - $40, much of it is free. It's just a matter of opening your mind and putting in some effort to educate yourself.
For information about share investment, Google Stan Weinstein and Alan Hull. From these two men you can learn how to safely invest in stocks without losing your shirt.
Unlike Storm Financial, they employ strict risk management, they trade with the trend, they trade in the strongest sectors of the market, and they don't adopt a HAH (hold and hope) attitude when a bear market sets in.
For information about real estate investment, I'm sure you'll find something of value if you Google Margaret Lomas and read some of her books.
You don't earn 50 grand a year? Then start earning it! Go back to 'school' if necessary. With two years of solid study you can become a registered nurse in Queensland. Maybe you don't want to be a nurse, but you get my drift.....if your current job or income are not satisfactory, there are various courses you can do to improve your employment and income prospects. Get your wife to work part time as well, if she's not already doing so, even if it's some ordinary job such as a domestic in a hospital or whatever. Between the two of you there should be no problem in pulling an income of 50 or 60 grand a year or higher.
Have you considered a job in the mining industry? Machine operators can earn 100 grand a year, and the rapidly expanding iron ore industry in WA will need an additional 6000 staff over the next few years. Many people with no machinery experience get trained as machine operators in the mines.
Many interstate people work in WA on a FIFO basis (fly in fly out). I beleive some of them work two weeks on and one week off, and fly home to their home state every few weeks.
I know all this because just a few days ago I spoke to a young woman who works in one of the WA mines - one of my daughters has considered going over there for a few years to set herself up financially.
Here again, maybe a mining job wouldn't suit you, or maybe you already have a good job. All I'm doing is pushing a few ideas your way to get you to see the possibilities.
Taxation? Your losses from your investment with Storm can be offset against your income, reducing income tax or perhaps even putting you in a tax-free situation for a number of years.
You're drowning under heavy mortgage payments? If your mortgage payments are considerably more than it would cost you to rent a house, then perhaps you should consider telling the bank to take your house, and you walk away and start again from scratch.
With 20 years of working life in front of you and your wife, you could achieve a lot financially in that time if you play your cards right. That comfortable retirement you dreamed of is still within your reach.
Look - I'm no stock market or real estate or investment guru, I'm just an ordinary bloke whose been up a few dry gullies in his time. I've known adversity, and I've come through it by being positive, by looking ahead at what can be, rather than looking backwards at what was.
I don't know your personal situation. I don't have all the answers for you. I'm just trying to give you hope for the future by showing you your potential.
I feel pretty sure that you'd still have the love and support of your family. What an asset that is.....with them behind you, and some determination and positive thinking on your part, who knows what you can achieve!
Mate, I don't want to hear any more of that destructive self-criticism crap that you've been going on with. Every minute spent in denigrating yourself about how stupid you've been, is one less minute you have for planning your future.
Now get stuck into it
And any time you're feeling a bit down, remember that the old Bunyip has faith in your ability to get your life back on track.
All the best
Bunyip
What does this mean? I'm not a lawyer.
gg
Nothing worse? How about being on an unemployment benefit which isn't even enough to pay for that rental accommodation, let alone any other expenses.Bunyip I can't imagine anything worse than living in rented accommodation on the old age pension.
From the article above.
Oh dear Solly, it looks as if 2011 is on.
I had to go down to a meeting in Lennons today and was given a room to freshen up. I must admit I was shocked by the state of the hotel. Much below my standards.
May we change the venue for the get together to the Marriott on the upper floors. There is an elite area with wifi, free brekkie, newspapers and drinks after a long day, I am told.
I have a mate who runs a limo service and he can get us up to the courts in 5 minutes.
gg
gg,
If it doesn't look like things are making progress with the inquiry, examinations, etc why don't we invite EC & JC down to Gloria Jeans at Cannon Hill Plaza for a friendly chat, a couple of cappuccinos and some filo pastries.
We could then get the real inside story of what actually happened and we could then post the transcripts on ASF for all to see. I could pick you up from the Airport in my Toyota Crown, pick up EC & JC and head off to the Plaza. I'm sure we could get to the bottom of what happened by the end of the second filo. It shouldn't take long and this could all be done on a day trip and no need for the inconvenience of an overnighter.
If you think this is a good idea I could drop an invite in their letter box in London Rd.
This could be a real scoop, may be we could ask fellow forum members & Stormers if there are any questions we should pose....
I hope you're right Julia as I've no doubt we will find out for sure how easy it is to live on the old age pension.
Solly
When or if you come face to face with Cassamatis, you can ask him a couple of questions from me. I already asked him these questions on his website, but in his typically weak and cowardly way he didn't respond.
If you were managing your clients portfolios, why did you let them evaporate into thin air? Why did you let them sit through more than 12 months of one of the worst bear markets in history, without taking any defensive action that would have saved their portfolios from being decimated?
Well of course we all know the answer - selling clients out would have dried up his cash flow, firstly by eliminating Storm's ongoing management fees, secondly by effectively preventing new clients from coming on board with Storm. I mean, if word had got out that Storm were evacuating their clients from the stockmarket, then nobody in their right mind would have walked into Storm and asked to be put into the market.
There were many faults with the Storm model......
too much gearing
excessive borrowings relative to clients capacity to service their loans
no diversification
excessive up front fees.
But the biggest failing of all was Storm's total lack of risk management.
None of the above shortcomings by itself, or even collectively, would have wiped out Storm clients if only there had been prudent risk management in place.
We can blame the banks for selling down the portfolios, we can blame them for excessive lending, we can blame the faulty data late last year, we can blame the stokmarket crash, if we're really gullible we can allow Cassamatis to pull the wool over our eyes with his claim that the economic meltdown and market crash were 'unprecedented', and if we're extremely naive we can believe that nobody saw the crash coming.
But the truth is that if Storm Financial had been doing their job they would have hauled their clients out of the market long before they got anywhere near margin call.
When it's all said and done, it was the gross incompetence of Storm Financial, and in particular their total lack of risk control, that brought Storm clients undone.
So Solly.....if you or anyone else ever come face to face with Cassamatis, ask him that question for me....Why didn't you take your clients out of the market before their portfolios were decimated?
I'm surprised that nobody has yet asked him that question during the Parliamentary Enquiry.
I challenge SICAG to put my second last paragraph on their website.
bunyip, these are excellent questions, what do you think gg ?
Anybody else got any questions to pose ?
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