Barclay Spencer

[Wolfie]

Anyone have any dealings with these guys? Shadey outfit? Misunderstood? Bunch of Cowboys?

Any and all feedback welcome

[bendix]

No dealings with them personally, but I've heard they don't inspire confidence.

[rgs2001uk]

people whose advice i respect have mentioned to me they may appeal to the financially unsophisticated/unwary investor.

those with more savvy arent exactly beating the door down.

i personally have no dealings with them, and cant see myself having any dealings in the future.

its all horses for courses as to what you invest in, what do you want out of your investments, what time period you are looking at, and most importantly how much can you afford to lose.

[marshbags]

Anyone have any dealings with these guys? Shadey outfit? Misunderstood? Bunch of Cowboys?

Any and all feedback welcome

Unethical is misssing from your list, Wolfie

It took me over a year to get them off my back, with continual phone calls, letters, emails ect. ect. on a regular basis.

Reminded me of the " time share " merchants in Tenerife some years ago, with their aggressive approaches.

My personal Financial advisor died and they somehow managed to get my details and followed up on them saying they had now taken over his business.

This rubbed me up the wrong way for starters, i can tell you.

Anyway, found out later it was a load of <deleted>

The company was passed on to his partner and it was all done without his permission or knowledge.

He finished up having to contact all the clients on the books to advise them of what was going on without his approval and to please ignore their approaches and continue as arranged.

I finished up cutting the calls off as they opened with their verbal slime, and just binned any material that was related to them, that came via post.

It finally stopped after some considerable time, thank god.

NO, they did not get my business either.

marshbags

P.S.

I have in recent times had similar approaches from the Co. who do a column in a certain Pattaya weekly and if they happen to read this post.

You,ve got no chance either, so stop wasting your time, go away and take the individual who gave you my details with you.

Yes, that means you JACK L*** !!!!!!

Edited March 29, 2008 by marshbags

[naka]

people whose advice i respect have mentioned to me they may appeal to the financially unsophisticated/unwary investor.

those with more savvy arent exactly beating the door down.

i personally have no dealings with them, and cant see myself having any dealings in the future.

its all horses for courses as to what you invest in, what do you want out of your investments, what time period you are looking at, and most importantly how much can you afford to lose.

Well said

Naka.

[DarwinK]

Anyone have any dealings with these guys? Shadey outfit? Misunderstood? Bunch of Cowboys?

Any and all feedback welcome

I've had no dealings with this company, other than to read some of their thinly disguised sales pitches that are published in the Post. I've heard it sells offshore financial products and schemes with multi-layers of hidden fees which more than negate the tax benefit of the offshore location. It may also claim to give investment advice, although my guess is any "advice" is also merely a sales pitch to buy their products.

In any event, its activities in Thailand require a license from the Ministry of Finance. As far as I can make out, the company is operating without a license--i.e. operating here illegally. If so, it would not be the only of of its type to do so. I could be wrong about this, so you might want to ask to see their license, or just check with the Thai SEC that keeps records of licensed investment and securities companies.

[Maizefarmer]

They've being around a longtime.

Somehow they got my details in 2002 - and the phonecalls and hardsell went on and on and on .......................

The guy who hasseled me first used a false name (usual story) - it all just added up to a rather sorry presentation that lacked credibility, but what has suprized me is that the company has lasted so long and continued to grow, without coming to grief or attracting the attention froms the local Fed's that most of the small Bkk finacial services companies seem to at some stage or other.

[A_Traveller]

No direct dealings but those who have crossed their path that I know of are, to be fair, with one exception, unhappy they did so.

I would concur with the target of the unsophisticated investor, which is often ironic since they seem to offer products which, by definition, require a, in the jargon, qualified investor.

Regards

[AyG]

The Barclay-Spencer website has changed, but a couple of years ago (or thereabouts) they were advertising for employees with a target salary of (if memory serves me right) about $200,000 a year. That's $200,000 (plus overheads) taken from their clients.

I'm not sure they represent good value for money, but I doubt it.

[quiksilva]

They've been cold calling me for years, without success

[PattayaParent]

My personal Financial advisor died and they somehow managed to get my details and followed up on them saying they had now taken over his business.

This rubbed me up the wrong way for starters, i can tell you.

Anyway, found out later it was a load of <deleted>

The company was passed on to his partner and it was all done without his permission or knowledge.

Were you previously with Westminster Portfolio??? 'Cos I remember the guy (Lesley) that knew he was dying and actively arranging for Barclay Spencer to take over his business and client list for the benefit of his clients.

[Moe]

My personal Financial advisor died and they somehow managed to get my details and followed up on them saying they had now taken over his business.

This rubbed me up the wrong way for starters, i can tell you.

Anyway, found out later it was a load of <deleted>

The company was passed on to his partner and it was all done without his permission or knowledge.

Were you previously with Westminster Portfolio??? 'Cos I remember the guy (Lesley) that knew he was dying and actively arranging for Barclay Spencer to take over his business and client list for the benefit of his clients.

I was with Westminster and he told me the same.

[burman]

Previous thread on Thaivisa about this group

Barclay Spencer International will become Barclay Carrigan International as at 1 June 2004. This comes about due to the merging of BSI with Carrigan International as of that date.

^ from the thread written by a Barclays employee.

So apparently if that deal went through you should be inquiring about Barclays Carrigan.

But I expect you'll find it's bullshit. I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole myself, they stink of boiler rooms.

Edited April 1, 2008 by burman

[PattayaParent]

I have in recent times had similar approaches from the Co. who do a column in a certain Pattaya weekly and if they happen to read this post.

You,ve got no chance either, so stop wasting your time, go away and take the individual who gave you my details with you.

Yes, that means you JACK L*** !!!!!!

hmmmmmmmmmmm

Considering that Jack works for one of their competitors why do you think he would give them your contact details?

In my case Jack has had my contact details for 13 years and I have never had a call from either Barclay Spencer OR the company Jack now works for even though I have regularly seen Jack recently with regards to insurance matters.

I do not have any investments with Barclay Spencer but have 2 friends that do who have been satisfied with their investment vehicles, at least in the last years prior to this current downturn.

[Moonfruit]

I had a few calls from them around 6 months ago. Real hard sell calls. The guy just didnt get it (or pretended not to) that i wasnt gonna buy anything from random bloke over the phone.

I referred him to my PA so she took over the calls. He carried on calling me for at least 2 months. I only spoke to him once and that was the last time he called. Needless to say i wasnt polite.

[marshbags]

I have in recent times had similar approaches from the Co. who do a column in a certain Pattaya weekly and if they happen to read this post.

B.Spencer do not write the column i refer to, P.P.

You,ve got no chance either, so stop wasting your time, go away and take the individual who gave you my details with you.

Yes, that means you JACK L*** !!!!!!

hmmmmmmmmmmm

Considering that Jack works for one of their competitors why do you think he would give them your contact details?

In my case Jack has had my contact details for 13 years and I have never had a call from either Barclay Spencer OR the company Jack now works for even though I have regularly seen Jack recently with regards to insurance matters.

I do not have any investments with Barclay Spencer but have 2 friends that do who have been satisfied with their investment vehicles, at least in the last years prior to this current downturn.

My personal details were passed on from J.L,s data base he built up while working for N.T. Insurance and as such he has breached confidentiality not only on my details, but many others.

Without my permission he should not have allowed this to happen.

USED MY DETAILS / POACHED THEM FROM HIS PREVIOUS EMPLOYERS.

His reputation from my take on what happened with his previous employers, which i gleened when complaining about these approaches from his new associates, means his previous integrity is no longer IN TACT.

Bad news as for as i am concerned, just like the B,Spencer situation as i stated previously.

Edited April 3, 2008 by marshbags