# misleading ads



## leonid (11 Oct 2004)

Heard New Irelands radio ads referring to their awards for investment performance.Apart from the virtual irrelevance of past performance,is this not misleading ?

Only a week ago the papers were full of reports that 4 senior managers at BIAM(who manage New Ireland's funds) had left.As I understand it,those who left included two of the top five personnel. Am I alone in seeing this as misleading ?


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## rainyday (11 Oct 2004)

Can you be more specific about exactly what was said in the ad that you reckon was misleading?


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## Henry Grattan (11 Oct 2004)

*BoI*

Leonid, like to declare any conflicts of interest as is required by AAM rules?

BoI have consistently been top fund performers through many changes of personnel.  Fund performance is not, contrary to popular myth, about a few hotshots but a about a culture. BoI have the winning culture, that is clear to all.  

Would you criticise Man U for baosting about their trophies even though the likes of Becks and Scmichs have lest them?  The club is bigger than the individuals - same thing.


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## Leonid (11 Oct 2004)

*misleading*

I work in the investment business and like many other contributors to AAM feel motivated to post on a subject about which I know something ! 

The football analogy baffles me in that people do not give their retirement savings to footballers.(In so far as there is reliance on past performance,they would indeed be better off backing the latest Premiership winners as undoubtedly greater persistence of success there.)

Asset management is a delicate stew in which the addition or subtraction of relatively few ingredients can make a huge difference.Ads referring to performance just after very major defections are in my view even more odious than the normal 'we are the best' ones.

Coming back to football ,did Man Utd's performance not slip markedly without Senor Beckham ?


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## ajapale (11 Oct 2004)

*Misleading Advertising*

Hi Leonid,

If you have a problem with the ad you could always lodge a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority of Irleland.
www.asai.ie/

Its a bit "clubby" but they post all the complaints with their determinations. The posts make for very entertaining reading and a surprising number related to the financial services sector.

ajapale


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## Henry (11 Oct 2004)

*Key persons*



> Coming back to football ,did Man Utd's performance not slip markedly without Senor Beckham ?


Leo, I was hoping you wouldn't spot that flaw in my analogy.  

Do you not think there is something in this culture thing?  Do you think the BoI/AIB comparison is all fluke, due to individual talent or something more sustainable?


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## Henry (12 Oct 2004)

*ASAI*

ajapale - what a howl that link is!?  The ASAI found the Guinness ad about the Titanic in bad taste!  That is ridiculous!!


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## daltonr (12 Oct 2004)

*Re: Key persons*



> Do you not think there is something in this culture thing?



I always thought there was something in it.   Even when I was being told past performance is not a giude to future performance, 

I still thought "yeah, yeah, but on balance I'd still like to be with the people who've performed well".

My thinking has changed and now I'd look for the lowest cost option, and I'd prefer if they kept "experts" as far away from my money as possible.

Basically I'm more comfortable and happier looking after things myself, and I get the bonus that I find it all interesting so it's a bif of a hobby to read up on these things and keep informed.

And I bet you a Jelly Baby that over the course of my life I'll beat any specific company that you care to name today.

-Rd


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## sfag (12 Oct 2004)

*does anything happen*

.... when a complaint is upheld. 
I had a complaint about ticketmaster & booking fees (not the one posted on that site) upheld with a conclusion that ticketmaster would be forced to display booking fee info in bigger writing and clearer detail , except ticketmaster still advertise booking fee included (even thought it is not) as they always have done ???
Do they have any bite at all ?


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## Leonid (12 Oct 2004)

*culture*

Yes,I agree that culture is very important and explains a lot.If the magnitude of the changes were less I might be willing to trust culture to right the ship.

When I see big changes in a very successful organisation(BIAM making > 100M) ,I am tempted to look for possible catalysts.After long time CEO Willie Cotter left I guess the culture may have changed.Another long-term inmate(Tom Finlay) left some time before.Perhaps the bankers are getting some grip on what had previously been an autonomous fiefdom ?


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## Murphymagic (18 Oct 2004)

Leonid,  
If you have a problem with radio or tv advert that you believe is misleading, the correct place to bring that compliant is the BCC, The Broadcasting Complaints Commisssion and not the ASAI.  The ASAI look after the ads in the print media mainly and you also have to remember that they are a wing of the advertisers in Ireland.  The BCC on the other hand are a statutory body (no connections with advertisers) set up by the Government.  That is the place to bring your complaint if you wish to have it judged by an independent body. The ASAI are not independent.

You can find details about the BCC on their  website at www.bcc.ie


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