Holding Int web of deceit even beats the internet spiders…

Some many moons ago an online investment by the name of Vanfunds suddenly announced that they had sold out to a Hong Kong company named Holding Int.

This new owner promptly drew down the barricades and refused to communicate with the dispossessed Vanfund members saying only that they were working on the member database and would let us know when they were ready to let us access our funds again.

Well, it now seems that all trace of Holding Int on the internet has disappeared. I must admit I haven’t checked that regularly as to whether they still had a web presence so was somewhat miffed to find that they have disappeared.

I thought I might find some trace by using one of the web services that captures copies of old sites but to no avail.

To be honest given the highly underhand way Vanfunds had executed this transaction I’m not that surprised to find that yet again honest investors have been taken as mugs. What pees me off more than anything is that Vanfunds was a highly professional site and looked as though they would be around for the long run. How wrong can we be!!!

I’m prompted to dig a little deeper into this one as the con perpretated is even more deceitful than others I’ve suffered. Whilst I know all online investing is a gamble even I sometimes get to the point where I recognise that the scumbags involved in this need to be identified.

Holding Int puts clients in their place…

It’s somewhat ironic that two organisations linked by a purchase could operate in such different ways when it comes to communicating with their clients. I’m talking about the now defunct Vanfunds which was swallowed up by HoldingInt in the latter part of 2009.

Vanfunds had a highly professional website that offered many services and was easy to use. They provided literature that explained their investments and also offered some very useful security features. Clients were allocated an account manager and you could rely on questions being answered quickly. If only HoldingInt treated clients in such a way.

A recent news item on the HoldingInt site effectively told Vanfunds clients that their enquiries were interrupting what HoldingInt were doing and would not be answered. In effect being told to go away and wait until HoldingInt decide to tell clients what is going on.

So, not having any information about when we will learn more about what has happened to our money it really does feel that we are second class citizens and not that  important to the world of HoldingInt. It  shouldn’t come as any surprise that an email I sent some months ago now has still not been answered.

HoldingInt is Holding out to VanFund members…

At the end of November Vanfunds notified their members that they had made the decision to sell to HoldingInt based in Hong Kong. The message was that this would ensure members continued to receive a premier service and be part of a major financial institution.

To say this came as something of a shock to existing VanFund members would be understating things hugely. There was no prior indication and we were not given any option in the matter, our funds were transferred immediately.

So, what’s happened since then? Well as far as I can tell nothing of any importance to VanFund members. No communication whatsoever and no timeline for when we will be able to access our funds.

In an effort to find out what the plans are I contacted HoldingInt by email on 22 December. As yet I’ve not had a reply but given the holidays I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until early next week before making any further enquiry.

In my email I made the point that online investors are very sensitive to the level and frequency of communication they receive and wanted HoldingInt to provide some indication of what news we would get and when.

To me the fact that nothing has been communicated for nearly a month is not very professional and at the time made the statement that the VanFunds website should have been retained until the transition is complete.

Hopefully 2010 will bring greater clarity and openness from HoldingInt but we need to see some positive move in this direction very soon.

Vanfunds get swallowed up and leave investors high and dry…

You know that feeling you get when things are going just too well? There is bound to be something that happens to knock you off balance, well that’s what has happened with Vanfunds. They have been bought out by a company in Hong Kong.

The announcement was made in a newsletter from Vanfunds at the end of last week. The new owner is Holding Investors and Traders S.A (Hololding Int.).

Now I’m not suggesting that the new owner is any way unsuitable or unable to provide as good or even a better service that Vanfunds but I am disappointed that investors have effectively been cut off from their accounts as a result of this buyout. Without any prior warning we are told that our accounts will be transferred to the new company.

I understand that confidentiality issues arise when deals like this are done but I would have been happier if the Vanfunds website was still available and an orderly transition take place. As it is we are now completely in the hands of Holding Int. and there is no real clarity as to when the new platform will be available.

In part mitigation of this disruption members have been promised an additional 3.5% interest to be paid but it is not clear whether this is a one-off payment or a longer term deal.

When I looked at the Holding Int. website it was clear that there is still a lot of work to do to make it suitable for administering our accounts. And that’s another niggle because the Vanfunds website was in my opinion probably the most user friendly online investing website out there.

The Vanfunds support staff were not part of the deal so they are no longer available to help with questions and these will now be handled by staff at Holding Int.

Let’s hope that the massive of amount of work which is clearly needed to be done is given a high priority so that we can access our accounts sooner rather than later.

If things go well there is the opportunity to access a commodity fund investment from Holding Int. but details of this are not yet available.

Vanfunds, the tortoise of online investing?…

Remember when you were just a small child and you learned the lesson of the hare and the tortoise? The hare hopping here, there and everywhere but not actually getting anywhere and the tortoise just plodding along at the same metronomic pace until he crossed the winning line first.

This story reminds me somewhat of online investing and how different programmes operate. Many seek headlines and attract attention at every turn. Often the publicity is unwanted and results from some form of problem they have suffered. This needs strenuous efforts to repair reputations and gain investor confidence which sometimes never returns.

Then there are programmes like Vanfunds that just keep plodding along, not making waves and focused purely on delivery for their investors. Their returns aren’t the most headline grabbing in the world but at 10% per month they still represent a much higher return than available in the high street.

They are based in Panama and yet to me they exude a certain ambience of Swiss order as their site is well organised, offers a whole host of services and works without any problem.

In the world of online investing they might be considered somewhat conservative and yet is that such a bad thing. There are far too many examples of programmes that have promised much only to burn when times get tough.

You may not see much about Vanfunds on forums, blogs or discussion boards but don’t let that put you off. Remember the story as the tortoise won in the end and I’ve a feeling Vanfunds will also be a winner.

Van funds comes recommended by a reader…

It’s always great to get feedback from my blog readers especially when they have recommendations for programmes that have real promise.

So, today I want to acknowledge the recommendation of Vanfunds by Mohdnorli Abdullah. Clearly this is a site that Mohdnorli is excited about as he has created a blog dedicated to introducing it to a wider audience.

When I took a look at the site the first thing that impressed me was the professional look and feel that has been created. There is a lot of information available on Vanfunds and they make sure that you are able to access it quickly and without fuss.

The company run managed forex funds where you can invest in 3 different plans. The minimum amount you can invest is $200 and this provides a maximum monthly return of 14.7% (year to date shows a cumulative return of 110%). The other two funds require a minimum of $2000 and $20000 respectively. As you’d imagine these provide higher monthly returns and for the year to date the first is showing a cumulative 124.7% and the second 140.8%.

Once you join Vanfunds and make a deposit you are eligible to receive a free prepaid ATM card. This will enable you to withdraw funds at ATM’s worldwide or pay for products and services directly.  

As with other online investments there is a need to have your account verified by providing ID and signing a Vanfunds contract. You are able to upload scanned documents to the website so the process is very easy. They do quote 10 days for checking of verification but mine was completed in less than a week. It’s worth noting that they didn’t tell me they had approved the documents so it is well worth checking back regularly.

In summary this looks to be a very sound investment and again I’d like to thank Mohdnorli Abdullah for bringing it to my attention.

PS – the return for the latest month on the basic account was 11.75%, another great result.