I have been asked to add my personal story to the sorry saga of investing in LM Investments and have spent the last few days wondering what best to say about the last five years of stress, worry and frustration that my husband and I have been through with our LM investment. We are retired and live in the Sydney region of Australia and our money invested in the LM Wholesale First mortgage fund (WFMIF) represented a large chunk of the money we hoped to live off for the rest of our lives. Living off a state pension has never been part of our plan and we have worked for every dollar we have managed to save for retirement.
We originally invested in the WFMIF back in 2004 for which we received a reasonable interest distribution every month. However, things fell apart in 2008 when the GFC hit and although we asked for a total redemption of our investment in June 2008, no part of it has ever been returned to us. The fund was frozen in March 2009 and although we were promised interest distributions up until December 2010 we have never received any beyond April 2010.
We have not only had to put up with the loss of income and capital, but in the last one and a half years have had the further indignity of watching companies like Trilogy, FTI and LM fighting over the control of our money. Yes, OUR money. All done in the guise of producing a better outcome for investors, but in reality lining their own pockets for the foreseeable future. What a farce it has all been. At long last it appears that ASIC are taking a serious look at Peter Drake’s and other director’s parts in the loss of investor’s money. A shame they didn’t take a look much earlier on.
The FMIF is now in receivers hands, which I feel in the circumstances, is the best possible outcome. I am not at all confident that we will get back much of our investment – we will be lucky to get 10%, but I want to see an end to the debacle. We need to put it all behind us and move on. I have had enough of the stress and grief caused by watching pure greed exhibited by the many actors who have had, or tried to have, their sticky hands on our money.
So what of the future? Well, we are lucky in that various companies still require my husband’s expertise and thus he is working part time, something which I will add, he is really enjoying, keeping the old brain cells going and bringing in a small income. For my part, my faith in trusting other people with the investment of our money has been really shattered, not that I blame our financial advisor for the choice of LM back in 2008, but I reckon I can do just as well, if not better, with my own abilities and for no fees. To that aim, I’m trying to educate myself on getting the most out of company financial statements and keenly following the methods of Warren Buffet.
I am taking the stance that we will see no return of our money and then any payment that we do get will be a bonus. That is the only way I can cope with the issue from now on. I can’t grieve forever about it, but I am hoping that any person who has had an unlawful hand in the loss of investor’s money will eventually get their just desserts and have their lives ruined, just like they have wrecked the lives of thousands of investors.