The British economy, like the other major powers of the western world, lives and dies on the concept of boom and bust, and we have seen throughout the last hundred years that capitalist economics is a system that allows extreme growth and respective recession to flourish; the great depression of the 1930s was preceded by a decade of notable growth, growth in the 1980s led to ‘Black Monday’, and now the current downturn – which has been recorded as one of the worst slumps in decades – followed a period of grand expansion and growth.

So, from the end of world war one to the end of to the start of world war two world economies saw a boom and a bust, followed then by a boom and bust from the end of world war two to the middle of the 1980s, and from, there, we have seen another period of boom and bust that will, if the pattern is to be beleived, come back into a period of boom.

Our economic systems, then, are predicated on the knowledge that growth will lead to fall, and that means that overseas investment must in turn be predicated on investing at the right time. Now that investment is tied up in wealth and available assets, making it difficult of course to indulge in overseas investment during times of economic recession, but it is, paradoxically, the best time to invest; bust will be followed by boom, and so yields on return of investment are high indeed.

The current economic climate is perfect for that process, and it is even more perfect – if such a term can be coined – for overseas investment; house prices in Britain accelerated massively during the 1990s, so that anyone who bought or began a mortgage on their house at the start of that housing boom and in almost all cases likely to have a substantial amount of equity, and that equity can be used to kick start a move into overseas investment.

Why, though, is overseas investment a good idea at this time? The answer is because prices in some emerging property markets are much as they were at the very beginning of that 1990s property boom in Britain, so that equity can be used to buy property for minimal amounts, but with boom expected.

To reiterate: a period of bust must in our economic system must necessarily lead to a period of economic boom. So a foray into overseas investment now would yield massive benefits when the bust is combated, and growth once again accelerates.

So overseas investment in property is a perfect way to keep your assets secure; it is not tied up in stocks and shares, but in the tangible existence of property, and, with equity often available and with prices cheap, can bring a substantial, notable, and exiting return on investment.

Look no further, then, than North Cyprus, for prime real estate in overseas investment and perfect assets for rental property and real estate; North Cyprus is the definition of real estate investing.

Martin Gavin

A big story that made the rounds in the financial media last month was Jim Cramer’s (of the Street.com) statement that some hedge fund managers spread false rumors about a company to large trading desks and the media to drive a stock price lower. He said this practice is illegal, but easy to do “because the SEC [Securities Exchange Commission, the U.S. regulatory body] doesn’t understand it.” Furthermore, the extremely wealthy former hedge fund manager boasted, “What’s important when you are in hedge fund mode,” says Cramer, “is to not do anything remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view.”

For those of you that remain skeptical about the deceitful practices of investment professionals and firms, perhaps an insider’s admission will finally convince you. Why these stories even make big headlines is beyond me. As a former industry insider myself, I’ve been saying for years that the investment industry is full of investment professionals, everyone from financial consultants to private wealth managers to professional money managers, hard at work weaving the emperor’s new clothes. However, only when a big mouth like Cramer speaks of the dishonesty that netted him great wealth does it attract attention.

For those of you not familiar with the fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes” let me summarize it for you. Long ago in a fabled kingdom, there lived an emperor whose vanity was legendary. Two swindlers, Guido and Luigi Farabutto, knew that they could capitalize on this emperor’s character flaw to make a huge profit. They approached the emperor and told him that they would sew him the finest suits of a very expensive special cloth that would be invisible to anyone that was stupid or of low character. The emperor, fearing that he would not be able to see the clothes, sent two of his men to go see the suits. The men returned, and afraid to tell the emperor they could not see the clothes, told the emperor that the suits were the most beautiful suits they had ever seen.

When the emperor went to see the Farabutto’s, knowing that his servants had been able to see the clothes, he did not want to admit that he could not see the clothes for fear of being considered stupid and of low character. So he proceeded to allow himself to be dressed in non-existent clothes for a parade through town and proceeded to walk through town in his underwear. When he came upon a young boy that pointed at him and said, “But he has no clothes”, only then did the emperor realized that he had been swindled.

It is amazing to me that many investors, even those with millions at investment firms, actually believe that their advisor or their firm has their best interests at heart. In fact, in my list of “101 Reasons Why Managing Your Own Money is the Only Way to Build Wealth” at http://www.smartknowledgeu.com, I’ve given readers 101 reasons why this is very, very rarely the case. Of course, everyone thinks that their advisor or financial consultant is the one guy or gal at their firm that actually cares about their financial security. If only they could spend just one day in the trenches with their advisor, they would 999 times out of 1000, witness a completely different story. I’ll relay another strategy I heard about a top financial consultant at a top Wall Street firm that should get your attention.

This top financial consultant managed many million dollar accounts. The way he would get wealthy investors to trust him was to demonstrate to them his ability to pick stocks that performed phenomenally well. To accomplish this, he would find a very thinly traded stock that historically had been very volatile. He would pay for a list of high net worth clients, call ten people on that list and tell them he was a top financial consultant at his firm. Of course, this would not get the attention of these wealthy individuals because they did not know him from Adam. Knowing they would be hesitant to hand their money to him and begin a relationship with him, he would acknowledge their reservations. He would then proceed to ask them to write the name of this volatile stock that he had researched on a piece of paper. He would then tell these 10 individuals that his stock picking methodology was so good that he was 100% sure that if they invested in this stock, they would make a healthy profit in a short period of time.

Then he would take the next 10 people on the list, repeat this scam, but instead, tell these 10 people that he was 100% sure that they would make lots of money from this stock if they purchased put options on this stock. Then he would wait several weeks until the stock moved 25% or so. If the stock gained, he would call the 10 people that he told he was 100% sure they would make lots of money from buying the stock. If the stock lost 25% or so, he would forget about the 10 wealthy individuals he promised would make lots of money by buying this stock and call the 10 people he told to short the stock. When he called these individuals they were amazed that he was right regarding a stock that they had never heard of, and many agreed to give lots of money to him.

I tell you this story because schemes like this, designed to make it appear as though these investment “professionals”, and I use this term very lightly, really know what they are doing, when in fact, they are selling nothing more than emperor’s clothes to you. In fact if you have been reading my blogs for a while now, you know that the strategies of diversification, asset allocation, and low volatility are all just emperor’s clothes as well. Though they may sound great to you, that’s exactly what the very best of all sales strategies accomplish. They are designed so well that they make you feel comfortable and in charge. The very best emperor’s clothes “sell” customers without the customers even realizing that they had been highly selected targets. Just search our “Down the Rabbit Hole” and “Educational resources” articles at http://www.theundergroundinvestor.com to discover why all of the best known investment strategies today are nothing more than emperor’s clothes.

My estimate of the percent of professionals that weave emperor clothes every day to hand to investors is 99%. They weave schemes, marketing strategies, and sales strategies in complex ways so that upon presentation to you, they seem like the finest financial strategies designed especially for you, their finest clients. Only in the end, these strategies leave you financially naked, so much so, that even children with no financial level of sophistication, would comment upon seeing these investors that so willingly let themselves be taken for a ride, “But he has no wealth.”

In fact, just last week, I read this article with statements from the CEO of a firm that handles the accounts of some of the wealthiest people in America about what it takes to truly build wealth. Many of his statements, though emperor’s clothes arguments that most people accept as truth, were so ludicrous that I laughed out loud, knowing that he had been able to weave emperor’s clothes for the top tier of wealthiest clients in America. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I believe that everyone in the business is out to scam you out of your hard earned money. There are some truly good, honest people in the business.

However, due to how firms compensate their financial consultants, this much is inevitable. There will come a time, and most likely several times, when a consultant will have to make a choice between you and himself/herself. This means that the consultant will have to choose between doing the absolute best thing for you and doing something not as good for you but better for his or her paycheck. And having been in the business, I know plenty of consultants that chose the latter many times and rarely any at all that chose the latter infrequently.

Always remember Jim Cramer, someone that built an estimated fortune of $100 million by manipulating wealthy clients, stated, “What’s important when you are in hedge fund mode, is to not do anything remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view.” And when you read Cramer’s statement again, know that this mentality predominates among almost all investment industry professionals, not just Jim Cramer.

J.S. Kim
http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/why-the-vast-majority-of-investment-professionals-are-not-trustworthy-139690.html

Hi,

I am interested in investing in ULIP. My basic intention is

1. To create wealth over a period of time.

2. Insurance is not important to me. Only investment matters.

3. Short term investment like 5 years.

4. Liquidity / Withdrawal at desired time.

Kindly suggest me. You can reach to me on 9321 711 486. I am in Mumbai.

In the present context, LIC’s Market Plus 1, is the best one, and it closes on 31.8.10. You can go for it without risk cover. If your purpose is wealth creation, then you should keep it invested for long say, more than 10 years. If you want to multiply your money in a shorter duration, then you should go for other investment options and not Ulip.

I’m not talking about ISA’s and pensions and investment but I’m talking about wealth building from nothing.

Is it possible to build wealth from nothing.

ie to buy a product in bulk and then split it up into smaller pieces and sell them and make a profit. Then to use that money to buy again in bulk and do the same over and over again to make wealth.

Does this work and if so what are some great ideas ?

I know at least two people who have made their fortunes through property development. They left school at 16

It depends how ethical you are. If you are prepared to use labour from third world countries it is easy but on your conscience.

And you can make something from nothing. You could ask a factory to give you photos and you act as a middleman. You have no financial outlay. You only sell from photo. Similar to ebay I guess.
Oh I almost forget to add a fantastic way to sell in through ads in back pages of glossy magazines. It doesn’t cost as much as you would think.

I’m not talking about ISA’s and pensions and investment but I’m talking about wealth building from nothing.

Is it possible to build wealth from nothing.

ie to buy a product in bulk and then split it up into smaller pieces and sell them and make a profit. Then to use that money to buy again in bulk and do the same over and over again to make wealth.

Does this work and if so what are some great ideas ?

I know at least two people who have made their fortunes through property development. They left school at 16

It depends how ethical you are. If you are prepared to use labour from third world countries it is easy but on your conscience.

And you can make something from nothing. You could ask a factory to give you photos and you act as a middleman. You have no financial outlay. You only sell from photo. Similar to ebay I guess.
Oh I almost forget to add a fantastic way to sell in through ads in back pages of glossy magazines. It doesn’t cost as much as you would think.

In terms of job functions, PWM (Private Wealth Management) generally refers to the guys that develop relationships and attempt to sell their company’s services (an example of a PWM would be a financial adviser for American Express). Investment Management, on the other hand, typically applies more to the guys actually picking the investments. An example of an Investment Management firm would be SAC Capital hedge fund.

I have a friend who is 32. He has his masters and works for investment banking, institutional brokerage, asset management, and private wealth services company in NYC. Whenever he tells me how much he makes, I am amazed. I am hearing #s like in the upper 100Ks to mid 200s. Is this possible?!

Yes it was even better back in 1999 and 2000.

It is hard work though.