Andy Shaw, Greg Ballard and Passive Investments…

I’m not sure why but it’s taken me some time to get the news that Passive Investments run by Andy Shaw and Greg Ballard has gone into liquidation. The company was set up to purchase and manage a UK property portfolio for its investors.

I thought long and hard about joining when I first came across them and after attending one of their seminars at Heathrow. Ultimately I decided not to and it seems in hindsight to have been a wise decision.

Accounting irregularities seem to be in evidence and a forum post I read suggested that Greg Ballard had little sympathy for a member who was looking to get a refund on the fee that Passive charged up front as they were having problems sorting the additional finance needed.

Some high profile investors are also backtracking on their relationship with Andy and Greg and it does appear that both individuals have managed things very poorly. This is somewhat in contrast to the sophisticated presentations they made at their seminars and I’m sure that there are many people in the UK that will be considering their situations very carefully.

Andy had moved to Cyprus where he felt the market for property was poorly exploited and from the information I saw it seemed that he had done some very thorough research which may now well go to waste.

Once again it shows that no matter how legitimate something appears it is always worth seeking more information to make sure that you are wholly comfortable with any investment you make.