Storm Financial Group

jez47 · 31 January 2010

I knew what I was doing and I knew what the financial advisor was advising. I was 35 at the time and I have been dealt enough blows to have a skeptical mind. I could have opted out when I wanted and doubled my money but I didnt. It was still my choice. Honestly I will say a little greed crept in.

Will anyone bail me out? Nope. So why should Storm victims be any different to me? I was provided bad advise. Good at the beginning and then it went bad.(Gumnut)

The main reason Storm clients should be compensated is that the banks (mainly CBA) have lied to clients and the Joint Parliamentary Committee (2009). In 2003 margin calls were issued direct to clients and "a copy sent to your financial adviser" . At the parliamentary committee CBA stated changes to this were introduced between 2003 and 2008 but no paperwork documenting the change can be found. (see Hansard report of Committee Chapter 3) Are they kidding ?? No notification of these changes were sent to clients either.
Thus in Nov 2008 the bank sold investors down at 120% LVR with no previous attempt to call or email investors. Gumnut - do you really think it's right that banks can change contracts with clients with no notification?
By the way- you mention being 35 years old - many of those devastated by Storm and banks were in 60's when seeking advice. Many may have worked for 50 years but like many ordinary Australians were completely ignorant of finances and were trying to secure their retirement without imposing on Centrelink.

Garpal Gumnut · 1 February 2010

jez47 said:
I knew what I was doing and I knew what the financial advisor was advising. I was 35 at the time and I have been dealt enough blows to have a skeptical mind. I could have opted out when I wanted and doubled my money but I didnt. It was still my choice. Honestly I will say a little greed crept in.

Will anyone bail me out? Nope. So why should Storm victims be any different to me? I was provided bad advise. Good at the beginning and then it went bad.(Gumnut)

The main reason Storm clients should be compensated is that the banks (mainly CBA) have lied to clients and the Joint Parliamentary Committee (2009). In 2003 margin calls were issued direct to clients and "a copy sent to your financial adviser" . At the parliamentary committee CBA stated changes to this were introduced between 2003 and 2008 but no paperwork documenting the change can be found. (see Hansard report of Committee Chapter 3) Are they kidding ?? No notification of these changes were sent to clients either.
Thus in Nov 2008 the bank sold investors down at 120% LVR with no previous attempt to call or email investors. Gumnut - do you really think it's right that banks can change contracts with clients with no notification?
By the way- you mention being 35 years old - many of those devastated by Storm and banks were in 60's when seeking advice. Many may have worked for 50 years but like many ordinary Australians were completely ignorant of finances and were trying to secure their retirement without imposing on Centrelink.

Mate I agree with many of your sentiments but the lawyers will make the most out of all this.

Proof mate, is nearly enough.

But not quite good enough.

A contact tells me Manny has a reasonable chance of winning his case and coming out streets ahead of the Stormers.

gg

Julia · 1 February 2010

Garpal Gumnut said:
A contact tells me Manny has a reasonable chance of winning his case and coming out streets ahead of the Stormers.

gg

Re the SOA provided to Storm clients, did you/they sign off on this?
If so, that would probably be Mann's escape.

Solly · 2 February 2010

Julia said:
Re the SOA provided to Storm clients, did you/they sign off on this?
If so, that would probably be Mann's escape.

Julia, it will be interesting to see what determinations will be made regarding Storm's allegedly 'one size fits all' SoA.

I believe at the hearing there was some questioning of the content of one of the SoA in relation to details regarding the $A and $US exchange rates. It was questioned whether the exchange rate comparisons where timely and accurate.

I also believe that the SoA advised that there were safeguards in place so that in downward markets movements there were trigger points identified where actions would be taken to protect the investment.

I wonder how these trigger points were identified and what actions were actually attempted to save the investments.

bunyip · 4 February 2010

Solly said:
I also believe that the SoA advised that there were safeguards in place so that in downward markets movements there were trigger points identified where actions would be taken to protect the investment.

I wonder how these trigger points were identified and what actions were actually attempted to save the investments.

It appears there were none - that was the major shortcoming of the Storm model.
Excessive gearing and lack of diversification didn't help either. But it was primarily the total lack of defensive action that brought Storm undone.

Solly · 5 February 2010

I was wondering if John Clothier head of Colonial Geared Investments, investment lending and Kamal Arnaout,
who I believe looked after the Storm account, are still with CGI.

Does anybody know?

There was a media report last year speculating that they had left.

Garpal Gumnut · 5 February 2010

Solly said:
I was wondering if John Clothier head of Colonial Geared Investments, investment lending and Kamal Arnaout,
who I believe looked after the Storm account, are still with CGI.

Does anybody know?

There was a media report last year speculating that they had left.

Tony Raggatt at the Bully would know. A call to him at the Townsville Bulletin may be worthwhile. His email address is raggatta@nqn.newsltd.com.au

gg

chrisgee · 5 February 2010

well how are all the stormies going ? i havent been here for a while but i have been reading things-looks like the new year has started and there is very little info coming out about what is going on with things-i know some are not using s&g but are going through others. surely something will sort out soon it cant keep going on like this.-i know some people here think that the stormies should have been wiser-well everybody makes crook calls every now and then-hang in there guys keep the fight going- i have seen what stress and damage all this has caused-Come on ASIC lets see some real grunt in your powers and fully investigaate what really happened-if criminal things are done dont let anyone get away with it-it over to you guys now-
STAY STRONG STORMIES

pegasus · 6 February 2010

Solly said:
I was wondering if John Clothier head of Colonial Geared Investments, investment lending and Kamal Arnaout,
who I believe looked after the Storm account, are still with CGI.

Does anybody know?

There was a media report last year speculating that they had left.

The answer is both have left - not by their own volution. What happened was very interesting...When they had to testify at the public hearing they were both on 'leave'. So when asked where they worked they could honestly say CGI/CBA. Everything looked above board and The Bank was standing by their employees. Clothier and Kamal were visibly agitated. The CBA Barristers were sitting at the benches like Vultures watching and listening to every word. Of course if Clothier or Kamal said anything agianst the Bank their entitlements would be at risk - so they toed the corporate line. Once the examination was over Clothier and Kamal left their employment quietly and the Bank slipped away like the serpents they are.

DocK · 6 February 2010

Very interesting - and not unexpected

If there's any silver lining to the whole storm fiasco for me, it is that a very valuable lesson has been learnt. I'm quite happily watching the all ords take a slide lately as this time I had stops in place which have preserved profits and more importantly, capital. This time my cash is safely sitting in the bank until (hopefully) it's time to get back in for a new uptrend.

It was a bloody expensive and hard lesson, but one that won't need repeating. I'd encourage any ex-stormer who hasn't taken control of their own finances to do so - it's not as hard as you may think.

Solly · 6 February 2010

pegasus said:
The answer is both have left - not by their own volution. What happened was very interesting...When they had to testify at the public hearing they were both on 'leave'. So when asked where they worked they could honestly say CGI/CBA. Everything looked above board and The Bank was standing by their employees. Clothier and Kamal were visibly agitated. The CBA Barristers were sitting at the benches like Vultures watching and listening to every word. Of course if Clothier or Kamal said anything agianst the Bank their entitlements would be at risk - so they toed the corporate line. Once the examination was over Clothier and Kamal left their employment quietly and the Bank slipped away like the serpents they are.

Thanks pegasus, I was wondering what happened.
I am interested in contacting these two former employees of CGI.
If anybody has their contact details please PM or email me.

Solly · 6 February 2010

For all those involved,
I hope all goes well with the meeting with Mr Scattini tomorrow.

Solly · 7 February 2010

"Is this a case of rewarding bad behaviour?"

"There seems no better way for an industry and its participants to remain in line than to tighten the rules."

More by Kate Kachor in Investor Daily here;

http://www.investordaily.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/id/style/8470.htm

Grey Ghost · 7 February 2010

Solly said:
Thanks pegasus, I was wondering what happened.
I am interested in contacting these two former employees of CGI.
If anybody has their contact details please PM or email me.

Solly I can't help you with their contact details but I am very interested in what you want to ask them.

Claudius 11 · 9 February 2010

Grey Ghost said:
Solly I can't help you with their contact details but I am very interested in what you want to ask them.

I can't help with contact details but it would seem that the purge of those within CBA who were umbilically connected to Storm is almost complete. We have seen the demise of Tait, Grimshaw, Clothier and Arnoutt. More recently we saw Matt Comyn a 'heavy hitter' within the Storm saga depart company with the Bank. Comyn was 'part of the solution' with the Resolution Scheme. It became apparent during the Federal Court Inquiry that he was implicated in those crucial meetings between Storm and the CBA back in December 2008 at which time they were attempting, according to an agreement that was in place between them, to work together to find a solution to the problem. This deal was reneged on by the Bank when those involved saw their rear ends on the line and acted to save themselves by selling down the Storm Clients portfolios and shutting down the Storm funds. In this context, Comyn might reasonably be seen as 'part of the problem'. Comyn was GM of Comsec and has now taken a similar position with Morgan Stanley.

It is a matter of conjecture how this 'blood letting' of those CBA employees who were involved with Storm might be interpreted in the wider community, but by any assessment it must convey some message that those at the top are holding them responsible for the sorry chain of events. Does this also not say something about acknowledged culpability?

shibby · 9 February 2010

Claudius 11 said:
I can't help with contact details but it would seem that the purge of those within CBA who were umbilically connected to Storm is almost complete. We have seen the demise of Tait, Grimshaw, Clothier and Arnoutt. More recently we saw Matt Comyn a 'heavy hitter' within the Storm saga depart company with the Bank. Comyn was 'part of the solution' with the Resolution Scheme. It became apparent during the Federal Court Inquiry that he was implicated in those crucial meetings between Storm and the CBA back in December 2008 at which time they were attempting, according to an agreement that was in place between them, to work together to find a solution to the problem. This deal was reneged on by the Bank when those involved saw their rear ends on the line and acted to save themselves by selling down the Storm Clients portfolios and shutting down the Storm funds. In this context, Comyn might reasonably be seen as 'part of the problem'. Comyn was GM of Comsec and has now taken a similar position with Morgan Stanley.

It is a matter of conjecture how this 'blood letting' of those CBA employees who were involved with Storm might be interpreted in the wider community, but by any assessment it must convey some message that those at the top are holding them responsible for the sorry chain of events. Does this also not say something about acknowledged culpability?

I have one word WOW!!!!!!!!

While we are talking about banks does anyone have any information about the ANZ's branch in Nambour. Any information would be gratefully received.

Claudius 11 · 9 February 2010

Julia said:
Perfectly fair comment. I think any of the millions of people who have had dodgy advice would agree with you.
Likewise, I'm still having some difficulty understanding why investors in Storm who were double geared are expecting to be compensated for their losses.

In an attempt to throw some light on a widely held misconception Julia, it mattered not one iota whether Storm clients were double geared, highly geared or had no gearing at all. They all suffered the same consequences. There were those who had neither tapped into the equity of their Real Estate with an investment property loan nor had a Margin loan but who still had their investment in the Storm Index Funds sold out from under them without notice.
It was the same precipitous action resulting from the acrimoniuos breadown in the relationship between the Banks and Storm that did the damage.

Having said that, the point needs to be made that Margin Call LVR's were not in every case set at a level that reflected the double gearing. But despite that even those who might have been more precariously placed would have exercised what option was appropriate to their circumstances had they had the benefit of a margin call according to the prescripts of the Storm investment model. They might have been in a financial wheel chair- like many in the community who relied on an equities based investment such as a allocated pension but they would not have ended up on life support in intensive care, if I may use the analogy! Obviously there are many more complexities to the events that muddy the water - hopefully that swamp might cliarify one day!!

specialed · 9 February 2010

Claudius 11 said:
I can't help with contact details but it would seem that the purge of those within CBA who were umbilically connected to Storm is almost complete. We have seen the demise of Tait, Grimshaw, Clothier and Arnoutt. More recently we saw Matt Comyn a 'heavy hitter' within the Storm saga depart company with the Bank. Comyn was 'part of the solution' with the Resolution Scheme. It became apparent during the Federal Court Inquiry that he was implicated in those crucial meetings between Storm and the CBA back in December 2008 at which time they were attempting, according to an agreement that was in place between them, to work together to find a solution to the problem. This deal was reneged on by the Bank when those involved saw their rear ends on the line and acted to save themselves by selling down the Storm Clients portfolios and shutting down the Storm funds. In this context, Comyn might reasonably be seen as 'part of the problem'. Comyn was GM of Comsec and has now taken a similar position with Morgan Stanley.

It is a matter of conjecture how this 'blood letting' of those CBA employees who were involved with Storm might be interpreted in the wider community, but by any assessment it must convey some message that those at the top are holding them responsible for the sorry chain of events. Does this also not say something about acknowledged culpability?

Well stated Claudius...

It appears the CBA have gone to great lengths to quietly remove those within their organisation who they hold responsible for this fiasco....whilst of course continuing to attempt to deny their own overall culpability.....Maybe a nice investigative piece by Stuart Washington may get to the bottom of this corporate cleansing by the CBA........Would have been interesting to see what paper trail actually laid around the CBA offices in Sydney..I reckon the shredders would have been hard at work for a while their, Something I sure ASIC will discover .....LOL

Julia · 9 February 2010

specialed said:
Something I sure ASIC will discover .....LOL

I wouldn't be putting too much faith in ASIC. Their track record is less than impressive in any sense.

Their level of competence appears to be on a level with that of Victoria Police.

specialed · 10 February 2010

Julia said:
I wouldn't be putting too much faith in ASIC. Their track record is less than impressive in any sense.

Their level of competence appears to be on a level with that of Victoria Police.

What..... 2 massive losses in court, their own 12 month investigation into Storm with no result and $ 500 million given to Worrels to replicate their own useless investigation of Storm.....That type of incompetence is Very Impresessive...........Wouldnt surprise me if they also thought up Grocery Watch !!

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