Cold Calling In Thailand

[camerata]

Does anyone else get pestered by these cold callers offering financial consulting services?

Since my name is in various business dirctories, I sometimes get several calls a month from different people selling offshore investments. Apparently, this business is "unregulated" in Thailand, but regulated in Hong Kong and Singapore, so the cowboys all flock here to Bangkok. Some of them can be pretty rude to secretaries screening the calls.

In my experience, they never have any specific product to discuss on the phone and they are always desperate to set up a face-to-face meeting. I'm just wondering what happens at such a meeting and whether it's a hard sell or not. I can see why some expats might want to invest offshore in their home country's currency but for those of us here permanently I don't see any advantage in investing offshore.

[Prakanong]

Does anyone else get pestered by these cold callers offering financial consulting services?

Since my name is in various business dirctories, I sometimes get several calls a month from different people selling offshore investments. Apparently, this business is "unregulated" in Thailand, but regulated in Hong Kong and Singapore, so the cowboys all flock here to Bangkok. Some of them can be pretty rude to secretaries screening the calls.

In my experience, they never have any specific product to discuss on the phone and they are always desperate to set up a face-to-face meeting. I'm just wondering what happens at such a meeting and whether it's a hard sell or not. I can see why some expats might want to invest offshore in their home country's currency but for those of us here permanently I don't see any advantage in investing offshore.

Once you are in any business directories you are easy prey to these guys.

Friends of mine complain about the number of calls and that their secretaries often are scared not to put a farang through to another farang and these scumbags do lie to those girls too.

Set up a meeting or two and do not show up but apologise then say you are travelling on biz for a month

They can not operate in markets that are regulated as you say so try to prey on victims elsewhere 0- scum to a man

I get all sorts of calls here in Singapore but its usually from large resepectable banks - I reckon Singtel sold my details

The only financial advisotr who called me was a guy from Barclays who said he got my card from a mutual friend. I told him my advice as paid for by the company through one of the large accountancy companies and he thanked me politely for my time and was off.

[soundman]

Does anyone else get pestered by these cold callers offering financial consulting services?

Since my name is in various business dirctories, I sometimes get several calls a month from different people selling offshore investments. Apparently, this business is "unregulated" in Thailand, but regulated in Hong Kong and Singapore, so the cowboys all flock here to Bangkok. Some of them can be pretty rude to secretaries screening the calls.

In my experience, they never have any specific product to discuss on the phone and they are always desperate to set up a face-to-face meeting. I'm just wondering what happens at such a meeting and whether it's a hard sell or not. I can see why some expats might want to invest offshore in their home country's currency but for those of us here permanently I don't see any advantage in investing offshore.

Once you are in any business directories you are easy prey to these guys.

Friends of mine complain about the number of calls and that their secretaries often are scared not to put a farang through to another farang and these scumbags do lie to those girls too.

Set up a meeting or two and do not show up but apologise then say you are travelling on biz for a month

They can not operate in markets that are regulated as you say so try to prey on victims elsewhere 0- scum to a man

I get all sorts of calls here in Singapore but its usually from large resepectable banks - I reckon Singtel sold my details

The only financial advisotr who called me was a guy from Barclays who said he got my card from a mutual friend. I told him my advice as paid for by the company through one of the large accountancy companies and he thanked me politely for my time and was off.

Didn't think of that one.

Next time a really pushy un-solicited investment scamsman calls I will have to try it. Set up a meeting in a restaurant a reasonable way out of town & just don't turn up. Waste the idiots time.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[ProfessorNiceGuy]

Does anyone else get pestered by these cold callers offering financial consulting services?

Since my name is in various business dirctories, I sometimes get several calls a month from different people selling offshore investments. Apparently, this business is "unregulated" in Thailand, but regulated in Hong Kong and Singapore, so the cowboys all flock here to Bangkok. Some of them can be pretty rude to secretaries screening the calls.

In my experience, they never have any specific product to discuss on the phone and they are always desperate to set up a face-to-face meeting. I'm just wondering what happens at such a meeting and whether it's a hard sell or not. I can see why some expats might want to invest offshore in their home country's currency but for those of us here permanently I don't see any advantage in investing offshore.

YES - the message is "give me your money and i will make you 40% " in general. Lie like hel_l to get through my PA...........

Best thing is to be nice to them and send them along the garden path.

[DarwinK]

My understanding is this business IS regulated by the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand. Any company or individual located in Thailand that is selling investments and/or investment advice is to be licensed in Thailand (even if the investments themselves are located outside of Thailand, say in an "offshore" market). Some of these firms will say they are regulated by the FSA, but try calling the FSA and asking if they've ever heard of the individuals or firms--they'll tell you they do not regulate people or firms in Thailand, but that the Thai SEC does, and will give you the phone number of the Thai SEC to call for further questions.

The Thai SEC has "Rules of Conduct for Cold Calling," roughly translated as follows:

1) Investment advisors can only contact a prospective client between 0800 and 1800, and when convenient for the client

2) When contacting a prospective client must give your name and company. If you meet with them, you must show your ID card issued by the Thai SEC (showing you as an individual are registered & your firm is licensed)

3) Must inform the prospective client of the right not to be contacted. If the client doesn't want contact or is not interested, the conversation must end

4) Don't rush the decision of the prospective client

5) Inform the client of the right to cancel an order within a specified period

6) Firms must maintain a do not call list and not contact the prospective client for 2 years from when put on the do not call list.

If you think the firm contacting you is not following these rules, they may never have been licensed here and not even be aware of the rules, or believe the myth perpetuated among themselves that they are operating "legally" (by this they mean that they have a work permit) and do not need to be regulated/licensed here. You can call the SEC's help line at 02-263-6000 or enter a complaint on their website: www.sec.or.th/en/complaint/concomp_e.shtml

Cheers, Darwin

[dantilley]

Was thinking about starting a thread about these guys recently myself actually as they seem to be the bane of many people's lives over here.

Best response is to simply say "Yes, thank you, I'm very happy with my current financial advisor who I've been with for 2 years, thanks for calling anyway...".

One guy I think was ready for this and tried to catch me out by asking which company I was with, but luckily I had the details of a previous encounter with one of these guys to hand, so make sure you can also respond in a similar way if possible.

But are all these guys cowboys, or are some offering a genuinely good product? Can't imagine they're all on the scam...

[Jimjim]

I think many are scams. Especially if they are rude, those are the types that are going to try to bend your arm. If they do that, they're probably not legit. I've known of a few Filipinos who do that in Bangkok who were trained by British, Irish, or Americans. They were trained by great salesman who knew how to part people from their money fraudulently over the phone.

How does it work? Stealing your money through convincing schemes. For some of them, as a recent news story indicated, it can end up working out for them in the end getting kidnapped.

[N47HAN]

Was thinking about starting a thread about these guys recently myself actually as they seem to be the bane of many people's lives over here.

Best response is to simply say "Yes, thank you, I'm very happy with my current financial advisor who I've been with for 2 years, thanks for calling anyway...".

One guy I think was ready for this and tried to catch me out by asking which company I was with, but luckily I had the details of a previous encounter with one of these guys to hand, so make sure you can also respond in a similar way if possible.

But are all these guys cowboys, or are some offering a genuinely good product? Can't imagine they're all on the scam...

In my early days of living in Bkk I must admit to being one of these people!!! NO BOOS PLEASE

From my experience, I did actually work for a well run finance advisory based in Chidlom. The job was a thankless one, I understand that you guys on ex-pat packages may well be pestered by these guys , but spare a thought for the guy on the other end of the phone. They are often only paid on a commision basis so can work for weeks with no real income. Sure if someone invests people make money BUT that is the same worldover.

As for me,Ive been fortunate since my time in bkk to set up and run a successful product supply company to the developments under construction around Thailand and have since contacted my previous employer and become a client! ( must admit that was a very self fulfilling moment!).

And so far NO complaints about service or reccommended investments for my own circumstances. Have made a nice return over the last 3 years.

P.S they do have offices in Singapore and Hong Kong WHICH ARE HEAVILY REGULATED and seem to implement them here altough they legally are not required to.

Maybe the only reply to stand up for these guys, but I was on the other side once!

[Prakanong]

Was thinking about starting a thread about these guys recently myself actually as they seem to be the bane of many people's lives over here.

Best response is to simply say "Yes, thank you, I'm very happy with my current financial advisor who I've been with for 2 years, thanks for calling anyway...".

One guy I think was ready for this and tried to catch me out by asking which company I was with, but luckily I had the details of a previous encounter with one of these guys to hand, so make sure you can also respond in a similar way if possible.

But are all these guys cowboys, or are some offering a genuinely good product? Can't imagine they're all on the scam...

I hear what you are saying and I have used it too but why should we have to justify ourselves to them.

They are trained to do this and they must have skins as tough as elephant hide. Its not just financial guys though lots of pushy saleman and now if its in a shop or elsewhere I say to them - keep pushing and I walk.

[dantilley]

Its not just financial guys though lots of pushy saleman

Yeah, come to think of it, I've had some real hassle from other sales calls too - some of the larger gyms over here can be really persistent if they get their hooks into you. I went to Fitness First recently and before even discussing things such as price and facilities with me they handed me a clipboard and asked me to write my phone number down, now I realise why!

But the most persistent, annoying guy was from a large 5-star hotel chain trying to punt the hotel loyalty card onto me though. Had a really hard time getting rid of him.

[kevc]

Its not just financial guys though lots of pushy saleman

Yeah, come to think of it, I've had some real hassle from other sales calls too - some of the larger gyms over here can be really persistent if they get their hooks into you. I went to Fitness First recently and before even discussing things such as price and facilities with me they handed me a clipboard and asked me to write my phone number down, now I realise why!

But the most persistent, annoying guy was from a large 5-star hotel chain trying to punt the hotel loyalty card onto me though. Had a really hard time getting rid of him.

These guys have qouta of calls to make every shift, whenever I've had a call here or the UK I always ask them to hold on a minute, go make a coffee or continue watching the TV and come back and say sorry not interested.

They usually hang up themselves.

[Prakanong]

Its not just financial guys though lots of pushy saleman

Yeah, come to think of it, I've had some real hassle from other sales calls too - some of the larger gyms over here can be really persistent if they get their hooks into you. I went to Fitness First recently and before even discussing things such as price and facilities with me they handed me a clipboard and asked me to write my phone number down, now I realise why!

But the most persistent, annoying guy was from a large 5-star hotel chain trying to punt the hotel loyalty card onto me though. Had a really hard time getting rid of him.

I have had persistent credit card guys but most usually dissapear quickly.

What I am experiencing now though is really annoying service staff but its just that they have been trained that way. Taking a visiting pal to CHIJMES last night was a nightmare - trying to get you to make a decision on a restaurant withing 5 seconds of you looking at the menu outside.

I told one girl - I will look at the menu and make a decision. Withing 5 seconds she is saying "Inside or out sir". I told her one more word and I walk, I understood she thinks its good service but I find it pushy and bad manners. She shut her gob for about 5 seconds and was about to speak when I wagged my finger at her.

I know nobody likes sitting waiting for ages but there has to be a balance - if they push I now tell them I will not buy there and move on - sometimes you have to push back. The same for shops too.

Its just over the top in many places. Go somewhere decent like Brookes Brothers last night and excellent unobtrusive service when required with a lot of help to get me the exact shirt i anted.

[CarlBkk]

Pushy staff are incredibly offputting. With my line of business in the UK I employ some Thai staff and the first thing I do is tell them NOT to approach the customer the moment they start browsing, and NOT to hand them other products, but just to say hello and make any polite conversation, then step back. I don't know so much about foreign customers, but with British they're easily (and rightly) scared off with sales staff being too keen.

One thing I've noticed in Thailand now is California WOW fitness centres operating this dreadful hard-sell technique. At Esplanade they have at least 5 staff waiting at the top and bottom of escalators approaching anyone who looks like they have more than 10,000 baht salary per month. You can get approached several times in a few minutes - not good. I feel a little sorry for the sales staff because it doesn't seem to be in their nature to want to sell in this manner, but they have to. It reminds me of the "charity beggers" as I call them, prevalent in most UK towns and cities who stand on either side of the road even following you to get you to set up direct debits. When you refuse a sarcastic comment usually follows. The government could make itself useful and stop this public annoyance. Luckily California Wow isn't this bad and after a refusal they tend to back off and don't keep trying...I hope it remains that way.

[camerata]

But the most persistent, annoying guy was from a large 5-star hotel chain trying to punt the hotel loyalty card onto me though. Had a really hard time getting rid of him.

Yes. I had a hotel member card for a year and then didn't renew. They've been hounding me ever since, and shortly after the card expired I started getting calls from other hotels too.

[samran]

you do get some scammers.

I went back to Australia at the start of 2004 for a couple of months after spending 2001-2003 solidly in Thailand working. About one week in to my time in OZ, an American guy called me on my Australian mobile number, which I've had for years, but was dormant and switched off for the time I was in LOS.

He had my name and started the chat by saying that about 6 weeks ago, his secretary contacted me on this number to talk about investment opportunities and he was following up on the intial call. It was pretty funny as I kept asking him how it was possible as the phone number wasn't even active 6 weeks ago. He came up with all miserable excuses on how this was possible, and I just laughed. I suspect they think many people were too busy to remember what they were doing 6 weeks ago, and use that as an chance to start the conversation.

I actually suspect that Morgan Stanley sold my details to them. The only connection I had to the US was some Accenture shares which I got in the float of 2002, and a US trading account to go with them.

[eljeque]

Next time a really pushy un-solicited investment scamsman calls I will have to try it. Set up a meeting in a restaurant a reasonable way out of town & just don't turn up. Waste the idiots time.

... and a very expensive restaurant at that!!!

Does anyone else get pestered by these cold callers offering financial consulting services?

Since my name is in various business dirctories, I sometimes get several calls a month from different people selling offshore investments. Apparently, this business is "unregulated" in Thailand, but regulated in Hong Kong and Singapore, so the cowboys all flock here to Bangkok. Some of them can be pretty rude to secretaries screening the calls.

In my experience, they never have any specific product to discuss on the phone and they are always desperate to set up a face-to-face meeting. I'm just wondering what happens at such a meeting and whether it's a hard sell or not. I can see why some expats might want to invest offshore in their home country's currency but for those of us here permanently I don't see any advantage in investing offshore.

Once you are in any business directories you are easy prey to these guys.

Friends of mine complain about the number of calls and that their secretaries often are scared not to put a farang through to another farang and these scumbags do lie to those girls too.

Set up a meeting or two and do not show up but apologise then say you are travelling on biz for a month

They can not operate in markets that are regulated as you say so try to prey on victims elsewhere 0- scum to a man

I get all sorts of calls here in Singapore but its usually from large resepectable banks - I reckon Singtel sold my details

The only financial advisotr who called me was a guy from Barclays who said he got my card from a mutual friend. I told him my advice as paid for by the company through one of the large accountancy companies and he thanked me politely for my time and was off.

Didn't think of that one.

Next time a really pushy un-solicited investment scamsman calls I will have to try it. Set up a meeting in a restaurant a reasonable way out of town & just don't turn up. Waste the idiots time.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[Crash999]

But are all these guys cowboys, or are some offering a genuinely good product? Can't imagine they're all on the scam...

The legit ones are peddling a few offshore investment products- the most common ones are mutual funds from the likes of Royal Skandia and others. The idea is to get the investor to set up a monthly investment amount over a fixed period of time. The brokers get an immediate commission once the punter signs up based on a formula of how long the investment is and how much it is. The funds are front-loaded, meaning for the first year or two they're underwater and if the investor pulls out then both he and the broker lose- hence the brokers will often keep in contact until this 'clawback' period is over and then drift off into the sunset.

As there's relatively quick return it becomes a sales game. The brokers don't need to have a finance education as there are tools provided to them. They just need to know enough to sign folks up and earn their commission.

Overall nothing inherently bad about the system as there's some value in putting investors in contact with the funds if they'd otherwise not know where to go. However, banks like HSBC can provide a wide array of investment alternatives that don't necessarily require such a long-term committment and can offer more flexibility in terms of the type of funds.

[ProfessorNiceGuy]

Next time a really pushy un-solicited investment scamsman calls I will have to try it. Set up a meeting in a restaurant a reasonable way out of town & just don't turn up. Waste the idiots time.

... and a very expensive restaurant at that!!!

That;s my trick..... record is to get them to go to different restaurants 3x....normally after the 2nd missed appointment they never call back again

[Khun Bob]

But dont forget to call the restaurant to check the person is there, let them know you are running late and that he should go ahead and order before you are there.

Then, 30 mins later, call to say you are in the restaurant (which is of course a different restaurant to the agreed restaurant)

With this method you will not get the same person troublign you and if you record the conversations with the person, can always have it as a recorded message on your publicly kkown mobile phone number - to scare off other potential enquiriers.

Off course if you were hungry youncould go along with it and bring all the wifes and friends family - and not have any cash, cards cheques or anything of value on you... Cheap party, just need to be interested and give false information...

Next time a really pushy un-solicited investment scamsman calls I will have to try it. Set up a meeting in a restaurant a reasonable way out of town & just don't turn up. Waste the idiots time.

... and a very expensive restaurant at that!!!

Does anyone else get pestered by these cold callers offering financial consulting services?

Since my name is in various business dirctories, I sometimes get several calls a month from different people selling offshore investments. Apparently, this business is "unregulated" in Thailand, but regulated in Hong Kong and Singapore, so the cowboys all flock here to Bangkok. Some of them can be pretty rude to secretaries screening the calls.

In my experience, they never have any specific product to discuss on the phone and they are always desperate to set up a face-to-face meeting. I'm just wondering what happens at such a meeting and whether it's a hard sell or not. I can see why some expats might want to invest offshore in their home country's currency but for those of us here permanently I don't see any advantage in investing offshore.

Once you are in any business directories you are easy prey to these guys.

Friends of mine complain about the number of calls and that their secretaries often are scared not to put a farang through to another farang and these scumbags do lie to those girls too.

Set up a meeting or two and do not show up but apologise then say you are travelling on biz for a month

They can not operate in markets that are regulated as you say so try to prey on victims elsewhere 0- scum to a man

I get all sorts of calls here in Singapore but its usually from large resepectable banks - I reckon Singtel sold my details

The only financial advisotr who called me was a guy from Barclays who said he got my card from a mutual friend. I told him my advice as paid for by the company through one of the large accountancy companies and he thanked me politely for my time and was off.

Didn't think of that one.

Next time a really pushy un-solicited investment scamsman calls I will have to try it. Set up a meeting in a restaurant a reasonable way out of town & just don't turn up. Waste the idiots time.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[scousemouse]

Why not, instead of all the little boy games , when you recieve the initial call you just say "SORRY , NOT INTRESTED" and then hang up.

I dont care how pushy anyone is , they cant be pushy to a dead line can they . This would save a lot of your time , a lot of his time , your phone time and your mobile battery .

Its not that difficult to hang up now is it .

[soundman]

Why not, instead of all the little boy games , when you recieve the initial call you just say "SORRY , NOT INTRESTED" and then hang up.

I dont care how pushy anyone is , they cant be pushy to a dead line can they . This would save a lot of your time , a lot of his time , your phone time and your mobile battery .

Its not that difficult to hang up now is it .

Oh come on. If one of those boiler room types calls me with a useless (if any at all) product thats only going to lose me money whilst lying through his teeth about how good it is / has been performing, whats wrong with having a bit of fun at his expense?

Soundman.

[cosmont]

For those who never been in contact with Boiler rooms, please have a look about this website explaining an international scam :

http://www.stockfraudsters.com/

If you are victim of cold calling, just answer "I don't have any money to invest in boiler rooms" usually, they never call again...

[backflip]

Both US movies "Boiler Room" and "Pursuit of Happyness" were based on the success of "cold calling". As other posters have noted, this is not a Thai-specific phenomena.

Edited May 28, 2007 by backflip

[keestha]

Back in the early nineties, I had a brief career as a cold caller in Bangkok. Don't shoot me, I was only trying to sell the services of a translation institute. Before I started, my boss taught me that step number one was to get past the secretary. The trick was to speak rapidly paced English, so that she became confused, and just passed you on to the boss. Sure in the beginning I was a bit shy about it, but later it became funny hearing guys who often sounded like arrogant pricks angrily blurting out they were in the middle of a very important meeting. Probably what you guys should do is see to it that the secretary speaks English well enough and is adequately enough informed to really screen you off from these types of calls. I am a business owner myself now and sometimes I get cold calls, sure they come at inconvenient moments sometimes, but I still sympathize with these people just trying to make a living, so I tell them politely I am not interested in their services and wish them good luck.

[camerata]

If you are victim of cold calling, just answer "I don't have any money to invest in boiler rooms" usually, they never call again...

The people who have called me have all been pretty good about taking a firm "no" for an answer. But they don't care about excuses that you don't have much money. I've been told they have schemes down to $100 a month. And if you claim you're not interested in foreign-currency investments they claim they have investment schemes in Thai baht. The golden rule is don't show any interest at all in what they say.

[Prakanong]

"Probably what you guys should do is see to it that the secretary speaks English well enough and is adequately enough informed to really screen you off from these types of calls."

In Thailand though this is not always possible - English speakers of that calibre are not usually secretaries ;-)

Then there is the whole Kreng Jai thing as well - I had a very interesting discussion about that with a Thai colleague this morning. Due to this daft Kreng Jai she is not getting the job title she should have just so not to impose on an older worker who took many more years to get to the position in a different division.

My view is if you are good enough you are old enough and she should have this.

[Misty]

My understanding is that Royal Skandia is an insurance company, not an investment or fund management company. The distinction is important, as it results in significant additional fees that aren't disclosed. All an insurance company like Skandia does is wrap or repackage mutual funds from real fund management companies, and then add an additional fee on top. So you pay a fee to the broker, a fee to Skandia (or another insurance company like Zurich or Friends Provident or Old Mutual, etc, etc). All these fees are not disclosed fully, and add up to far more than the supposed tax savings you get from having an offshore account. Not a good deal.

Even worse is that most of these insurance accounts have forced lock-in periods--if you try to access your funds before the period is up, there's a hefty surrender fee. Offshore discount brokers that offer real mutual funds as investment options don't force their customers to lock in their funds, nor charge surrender fees.

BTW, the brokers of these accounts are not legit, either, whatever they may say. To be legit they should be regulated by the jurisdiction they are operating in. They are not.

The legit ones are peddling a few offshore investment products- the most common ones are mutual funds from the likes of Royal Skandia and others. The idea is to get the investor to set up a monthly investment amount over a fixed period of time. The brokers get an immediate commission once the punter signs up based on a formula of how long the investment is and how much it is. The funds are front-loaded, meaning for the first year or two they're underwater and if the investor pulls out then both he and the broker lose- hence the brokers will often keep in contact until this 'clawback' period is over and then drift off into the sunset.

As there's relatively quick return it becomes a sales game. The brokers don't need to have a finance education as there are tools provided to them. They just need to know enough to sign folks up and earn their commission.

Overall nothing inherently bad about the system as there's some value in putting investors in contact with the funds if they'd otherwise not know where to go. However, banks like HSBC can provide a wide array of investment alternatives that don't necessarily require such a long-term committment and can offer more flexibility in terms of the type of funds.

Edited May 29, 2007 by Misty

[CymruAmByth]

Oh Ye of little faith (sceptical bunch!)

To give an objective view:

I was approached by one of these scamsters ("scum of the earth" I seem to remember from one poster) about 18 months ago.

We discussed an offshore product issued from Friends Provident International based in the Isle of Man -- one of the, if not THE, finest offshore finance centres.

To cut a long story short, I am more than happy that a 175 year old, FTSE listed company (current funds under management $206 BILLION USD) is looking after my monthly premiums and during the past 12 months has returned me 37% NETT!!!

The "scum of the earth" employ a quite unique online management system, allowing me total access to my portfolio and daily automated 'triggers' enabling me to take advantage of instant upturns and downturns within my mirror funds.

Some of you need a chill-pill and more importantly stop knocking something you know nothing about!

As for the poster that questioned the need for an offshore investment vehicle whilst living in Thailand, please let me know how you would go about protecting your capital and generating a similar growth here in oh-so-stable Thailand. Or would you prefer to arrange to meet them in restaurants and not turn up....jeez

Edited May 30, 2007 by CymruAmByth

[samran]

Oh Ye of little faith (sceptical bunch!)

To give an objective view:

I was approached by one of these scamsters ("scum of the earth" I seem to remember from one poster) about 18 months ago.

We discussed an offshore product issued from Friends Provident International based in the Isle of Man -- one of the, if not THE, finest offshore finance centres.

To cut a long story short, I am more than happy that a 175 year old, FTSE listed company (current funds under management $206 BILLION USD) is looking after my monthly premiums and during the past 12 months has returned me 37% NETT!!!

The "scum of the earth" employ a quite unique online management system, allowing me total access to my portfolio and daily automated 'triggers' enabling me to take advantage of instant upturns and downturns within my mirror funds.

Some of you need a chill-pill and more importantly stop knocking something you know nothing about!

As for the poster that questioned the need for an offshore investment vehicle whilst living in Thailand, please let me know how you would go about protecting your capital and generating a similar growth here in oh-so-stable Thailand. Or would you prefer to arrange to meet them in restaurants and not turn up....jeez

Totally agree with you, but I don't think we are talking about respectable companies.

For me at least, it was straight out of the movie Boiler Room.

"Hi Mr Samran, it is 'Fred' from "Golderman Sarchs" (or some eerily similar, but not the real deal company name). I'm just following up on an intial call my secretary (never) made to you a month ago to discuss some investment oppotunities and to let you know about some interesting IPO's which are happening. One of these is an innovative little medical firm on the verge of FDA approval for their miracle cure to baldness....."

You know how the rest goes..

[Firefan]

Yeah, we are talking 2 diff. animals here.

Scams/boiler rooms is one thing. The other is financial advisors from various companies selling offshore products - some of them wrapped into an insurance product(for tax reduction purposes, and sometimes sales load discounts). Some of these products, MAN being 1 example, are not bad. Main challenge is to look through the products and ensure that fees are resonable compared to going direct to a bank/fund company - or using a discount online broker.

Cheers!