# Brendan Investments liquidated



## Brendan Burgess (3 Nov 2017)

https://www.independent.ie/business...d-company-goes-into-liquidation-36285380.html

I didn't notice this at the time.

"In July, the main Brendan Investments Pan European Property was wound-up on foot of a petition to the High Court, owing more than €11m to around 700 Irish investors, who had pumped €12.6m into the business in 2007 in one of the biggest ever fund raisings of the kind here."

Now the management company has gone. 

Eddie Hobbs stepped down as a director in 2014.


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## noproblem (3 Nov 2017)

Ouch, that hurt a lot of people i'd imagine.


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## Steven Barrett (3 Nov 2017)

That scheme was always a bad idea. Most property syndicates had minimums of €100k. Brendan Investments was €5k to take advantage of Hobbs' popularity with the common man. 

When the recession hit, they should have called it quits. Buying up properties in Detroit was sheet madness. A city where you could buy a house for $1,000 in 2008!! Who knows, they could have been on a Detroit version of Primetime Investigates as slum landlords!!



Steven 
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## galway_blow_in (3 Nov 2017)

hobbs has a track record of being wrong and horrible with his timing , i remember about six years ago when the euro itself looked like it might have been in danger , hobbs was telling anyone who would listen to buy gold , it was priced at $1800 per oz at the time , he was also predicting that oil would be @ $250 per barrel within a few years , it was @ close to  $150 at the time


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## joe sod (4 Nov 2017)

In fairness to him , he was generally right about some things, I think he set up Brendan investments as a way for Irish people to invest away from Irish property which he said was in a bubble. As for the euro if it had of collapsed back then and it was in a very precarious situation just like Irish economy, then an investment in gold would have looked very wise. If the wrong decisions had of been made back in 2010, then Ireland would have gone like Argentina and the euro would have collapsed.
       I think he was a smart man but unfortunately he made big mistakes with Brendan investments and took on too much risk, I don't understand why he did not just buy European and us property especially in Florida and I don't understand how even with the bad investments so much was lost. You can be right about macroeconomic stuff but still get it disastrously wrong in how to gain financially. I think Isaac Newton, one of the smartest men that ever lived lost his wealth in the "south seas bubble"


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## galway_blow_in (4 Nov 2017)

joe sod said:


> In fairness to him , he was generally right about some things, I think he set up Brendan investments as a way for Irish people to invest away from Irish property which he said was in a bubble. As for the euro if it had of collapsed back then and it was in a very precarious situation just like Irish economy, then an investment in gold would have looked very wise. If the wrong decisions had of been made back in 2010, then Ireland would have gone like Argentina and the euro would have collapsed.
> I think he was a smart man but unfortunately he made big mistakes with Brendan investments and took on too much risk, I don't understand why he did not just buy European and us property especially in Florida and I don't understand how even with the bad investments so much was lost. You can be right about macroeconomic stuff but still get it disastrously wrong in how to gain financially. I think Isaac Newton, one of the smartest men that ever lived lost his wealth in the "south seas bubble"



gold is a doomsday asset and in that event , id rather have cans of beans to be honest , it has a cult following amongst conspiracy theorists but in the real world its U.S treasuries and swiss francs which are most in demand when things become incredibly uncertain , he is and has been right about the caving in to public sector unions by successive governments , he is also right about the pension time bomb which is being ignored , his publically aired views on investments have been terrible however

i used to also have time for jill kirby and constantine gurdiev but those two also proved to be ultra bearish cliches a number of years ago , both were also recommending gold and gurdiev had links to a bullion dealer , nothing wrong with that of course but his timing was lousy , he was a permabear on the irish economy and i suspect his constant appearances on the vincent browne show at the time spooked a lot of people from seeing the incredible value which existed in this country with regard housing post the bailout


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## joe sod (4 Nov 2017)

I suppose you can be a very smart person with well thought out ideas but still be wrong because of events. You were right they were too bearish on irish economy. At the same time many irish people lost all their money in the crash because they invested everything in banks and irish property at the peak and dismissed people like this as cranks. Most irish wealth was not lost in brendan investments and detroit property but in investments in irish banks and irish property. We are in danger of forgetting that


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## Steven Barrett (6 Nov 2017)

joe sod said:


> I suppose you can be a very smart person with well thought out ideas but still be wrong because of events. You were right they were too bearish on irish economy. At the same time many irish people lost all their money in the crash because they invested everything in banks and irish property at the peak and dismissed people like this as cranks. Most irish wealth was not lost in brendan investments and detroit property* but in investments in irish banks and irish property. We are in danger of forgetting that*



And that's is why people should invest outside of this small little island on the edge of the Atlantic. 

Like with the recent AIB floatation. If I am going to invest in a bank, it's not going to be in a State owned bank with very limited reach globally. I'd invest in Goldman Sachs or Bank of America! 

Same with property. Most people don't realise that investing in property is actually going to cost them thousands each year. And as they are borrowing to buy, they are taking on a huge amount of extra risk. Something happens the rental market and they have to drop rents, they still have a 20 year mortgage around their necks. Get in arrears and their credit rating is shot, difficulty getting a loan in the future, even if it's just for a car. 


Steven 
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## galway_blow_in (6 Nov 2017)

SBarrett said:


> And that's is why people should invest outside of this small little island on the edge of the Atlantic.
> 
> Like with the recent AIB floatation. If I am going to invest in a bank, it's not going to be in a State owned bank with very limited reach globally. I'd invest in Goldman Sachs or Bank of America!
> 
> ...



agree about the domestic  bank stocks but buying property like any other asset is a good idea at the right price , property bought in 2012 in dublin , you would struggle to find a better investment anywhere , amazon or netflix stock dont count as ten baggers are rare finds

everything is a buy at the right price


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## cremeegg (6 Nov 2017)

galway_blow_in said:


> gold is a doomsday asset and in that event , id rather have cans of beans to be honest





galway_blow_in said:


> property bought in 2012 in dublin , you would struggle to find a better investment anywhere
> everything is a buy at the right price



Lots of good sense coming from Galway this afternoon.


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## noproblem (6 Nov 2017)

Wouldn't it be a far better signal of someones ability if they were to tell us here now what's going to be the IN INVESTMENT over the next 5 years, instead of telling us what we already know? Just a thought.


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## galway_blow_in (6 Nov 2017)

noproblem said:


> Wouldn't it be a far better signal of someones ability if they were to tell us here now what's going to be the IN INVESTMENT over the next 5 years, instead of telling us what we already know? Just a thought.



context my friend , sbarrett claimed property was a bad investment , i merely said it depends on the timing ( ie , dublin 2012 ) , property is no worse than any other asset when value exists


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## Conan (6 Nov 2017)

Eddie Hobbs has long presented himself as an “expert”. Together with his TV programme, he cultivated a certain profile. But his involvement in Brendan Inv and his promoting of property in the Cape Verde Islands are high profile examples of where he was very wrong.
I wonder how some of his investment clients have fared.
Just as with Professors Lucey, Gurdgiev and others, they were very vocal on issues such as the Irish economy, the prospects of Ireland having to seek a second bailout, the prospects for the Euro etc. but they were wrong. Some “experts” cannot resist a TV camera.


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## galway_blow_in (6 Nov 2017)

Conan said:


> Eddie Hobbs has long presented himself as an “expert”. Together with his TV programme, he cultivated a certain profile. But his involvement in Brendan Inv and his promoting of property in the Cape Verde Islands are high profile examples of where he was very wrong.
> I wonder how some of his investment clients have fared.
> Just as with Professors Lucey, Gurdgiev and others, they were very vocal on issues such as the Irish economy, the prospects of Ireland having to seek a second bailout, the prospects for the Euro etc. but they were wrong. Some “experts” cannot resist a TV camera.



indeed , around that time i cant think of anyone who appeared on tv or radio who  was optimistic about the economy , a`narrative was firmly in place and it was ultra bearish


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## Steven Barrett (6 Nov 2017)

galway_blow_in said:


> context my friend , *sbarrett claimed property was a bad investment* , i merely said it depends on the timing ( ie , dublin 2012 ) , property is no worse than any other asset when value exists



No I didn't. 

I said most people don't realise that investing in property would cost them money each year and they are taking more investment risk by the gearing on the property. 


If you get your timing right, any asset class is a great investment but that is down to luck more than anything else. I was only saying that to a client last week. His conservative ARF portfolio has grown by 60% after his imputed distribution. He was thanking me for the great returns. I pointed out his policy start date to him...2009. He bought at the bottom of the market, everything was cheap as chips. 


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## Steven Barrett (6 Nov 2017)

noproblem said:


> Wouldn't it be a far better signal of someones ability if they were to tell us here now what's going to be the IN INVESTMENT over the next 5 years, instead of telling us what we already know? Just a thought.



Are we not then getting into the active manager scenario which has been proven not to beat the market over the long term? 


Steven 
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## galway_blow_in (6 Nov 2017)

SBarrett said:


> No I didn't.
> 
> I said most people don't realise that investing in property would cost them money each year and they are taking more investment risk by the gearing on the property.
> 
> ...



well my point is even in spite of ongoing costs related to property ownership , if you buy cheap , its a very good investment


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## TheBigShort (6 Nov 2017)

galway_blow_in said:


> in the real world its U.S treasuries and swiss francs which are most in demand when things become incredibly uncertain ,



True, but anyone who doesn't get a sense that the 'real world' is changing fundamentally, in my opinion, is out of touch. Fiat currencies, in particular the $US are under serious threat now. 



galway_blow_in said:


> buying property like any other asset is a good idea at the right price , property bought in 2012 in dublin , you would struggle to find a better investment anywhere , amazon or netflix stock dont count as ten baggers are rare finds
> 
> everything is a buy at the right price



Everything is also a sell at the right price.


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## PMU (7 Nov 2017)

I didn't invest in this fund but it is rather unsettling that a 'Pan-European' fund would invest its remaining capital in Detroit. This raises the issue of what protection is available to retail investors in Ireland and are such investors adequately informed of the risks, including counterparty risk, when investing in these products. It's my understanding that under the UCITS IV Directive of 2011 potential investors should receive a Key Investor Information Document (KIID) for the fund prior to investing. The purpose of the KIID is to provide critical information including risk on the fund. I've had a quick look at a the web sites of a couple IE fund providers with which I have or might have investments. I couldn't find KIID documents anywhere, except in some cases where the provider sold on a foreign managed fund, if you follow the link to the foreign funds site you might find the relevant KIID. So either a key regulation is being ignored by IE fund providers, or the Central Bank is failing as a regulatory authority, or both. In any event, it would appear that, unlike elsewhere in Europe, IE retail investors are not being provided with adequate documentation including risk assessment to make informed investment decisions.


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## Alacoque (8 Jan 2020)

We invested €50k in Brendan Investments.  We now need proof of our loss.  How do we go about it?


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