Has anyone here invested in Arena Capital Partners?

My point is that you don't need too much explanation of why you are recommending something standard like Zurich.

But if you are recommending something non-standard, you should be explaining why.

I don't know the rules. This is just what I would expect from an advisor.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
My point is that you don't need too much explanation of why you are recommending something standard like Zurich.

But if you are recommending something non-standard, you should be explaining why.

I don't know the rules. This is just what I would expect from an advisor
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If it is regulated, you need to explain the reasoning for your recommendation. If it is unregulated, you don't.

The thing is, you shouldn't be selling it under your regulated business. The Central Bank has said you need separate headed paper with "Regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland" removed or it to be removed from email footers. In my opinion, that is not enough as people rarely look at that anyway, so it is not something that should be noticed.

This is where there is a lack of guidance from the Central Bank on regulated entities selling unregulated products. I was at a talk a few years ago and the speaker said he had asked the CBI about unregulated products sold through regulated pensions and they had no idea.
 
I'm going to assume that there won't be many 'themed' intermediary inspections from the CB for a while as they target the 6% with very focused ones.

Steven Barrett said:
It is the same as me asking you to invest in my company. I don't have to give you a written explanation.
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In fairness, both parties to this transaction would be required to carry out due diligence on each other and submit those to the CB for approval.
 
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89AlanB said:
My Pension Broker
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I think it would be of benefit, to all future readers of this post (it'll come up in searches), if those affected by this and, that have posted here, (without mentioning the name of the individual adviser or company that they bought the product from) could highlight the timeline and process of these transactions and interactions with advisers (regulated or not) . I'm assuming that if someone was advised to invest their entire penion fund in this yoke that the original pension fund was accumulated within a regulated product/entity before hand and then transferred by the same adviser?

You can also confirm if the named adviser or company was a regulated entity by doing a search here , (again, no names to be published)

Or, was it a completely separtate company set up by a regulated entity? Or, were they ever regulated at all?

You can use SoloCheck to find out when a company was set up and if the director is/was a director of any other company. It'll also tell you if any previous companies, that they were directors of, no longer exist.
 
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What to make of this?
 
https: //www. thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/i-invested-nearly-every-cent-with-arena-and-fear-that-ill-lose-it-all-9n8rqnmqh

"The court was told on Wednesday that 22 parties had signed non-disclosure agreements, indicating that they were “willing to engage with this process because they consider it a business that is worth pursuing, an investment opportunity worth pursuing”.
On Friday, the court was told that ten parties had tabled bids"

Does this mean a sale and funds back is likely as they have said it in court?
 
A friend of mine has told me that they invested a significant sum in June 2021.

OK, they got the brochure with all the risks set out.
The broker said in the Reasons Why document which they signed that he had gone through the brochure with them, explained all the risks and they understood that it was not regulated by the Central Bank. They signed this.

But I had a look at the accounts for 2020 which I attach to this post.

The company has liabilities in excess of assets of €17m. Worse still, this has increased by €10m from 2019 which suggests that they lost €10m during 2020.

How could anyone have recommended lending money to this company?


1760514908529.webp
 

Attachments

In that Sunday Times article, the broker mention is called Right Retirement, an unregulated company. They took on the piece of business from the regulated Arena Financial Services company.

There needs to be a serious clamp down on the mixing of regulated and unregulated products and the marketing of some of these companies. I have seen websites of companies (right retirement doesn't seem to have one, a red flag for me) and you wouldn't know the difference between them and a regulated company. The majority of people wouldn't know what is going on.
 
deebarc said:
Im inclined to think no, it's gone.
Anybody have any idea.
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The examiners report said a return of 25%.

But there was an error according to..

https: //www. thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/arena-capital-examinership-report-error-ztn509rtb

"projected dividend for unsecured creditors in the event of liquidation is now 15 percent"

A pretty huge error to make...
 
Vonnie said:
I’m wondering is there any way that we can come together as a collective and see is there any legal action that we can take?
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IANAL however my understanding is that currently, the Irish legal system doesn't allow class actions.

[New legislation with the catchy title: The Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act 2023 came into force on 30 April 2024 and may have changed that situation slightly. However, whether a group of disgruntled investors could avail of this Act to take a case against their Financial Adviser is something far beyond my capacity to advise.]

Hence, it appears that everyone who has lost money in Arena Capital partners will probably have to take action as individuals.

If anyone believes that they were misled by their Financial Adviser, then this link outlines the steps to take:

How do I make a complaint about a financial adviser? - CCPC Consumers

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is an independent statutory body that enforces competition and consumer protection law in Ireland
www.ccpc.ie www.ccpc.ie
 
During the COVID-19 lockdown, my long-standing financial advisor — a regulated individual with a reputable business in the city — called to my home. He advised that market conditions were poor and recommended I move some of my fund from a pension fund from an old job into “safer” investments, specifically citing green energy and German supermarkets.

Given the uncertainty at the time, I agreed. He then presented a 'page' and asked me to sign it immediately. I trusted him, having worked with him for years, and assumed the investment was appropriate and secure.

In September 2025, I began receiving correspondence from Arena Capital Partners Ltd stating the company was in receivership. I contacted my advisor, who informed me — for the first time — that my entire pension pot from a previous employer had been invested in Arena Capital. I was shocked to learn this, especially as he had never disclosed that the investment involved unregulated loan notes.

I subsequently sent a formal letter requesting the following:
  1. A copy of the Suitability Letter provided at the time of investment.
  2. All correspondence and promotional materials relating to Arena Capital Partners Ltd and the loan notes.
  3. Disclosure documents outlining the risks associated with the investment, particularly its unregulated status.
  4. An explanation of the due diligence carried out prior to recommending this investment.
  5. Clarification on whether the firm received any commission or incentive for promoting this product.

None of these documents were ever provided.


Instead, the advisor responded by asking me to redirect my complaint to a company I had never heard of — an unregulated limited company of which he is the sole shareholder. This was never disclosed to me previously and appears to be an attempt to deflect responsibility away from his regulated firm. I am least likely to take take a risk ever. I naively thought was I fine because he was regulated.
 
That is shocking.

The Central Bank appears to think it's ok that a regulated financial advisor John Doe whose notepaper says John Doe regulated by the Central Bank and do what they like if they use headed notepaper saying just John Doe and making no mention of the regulation. Unregulated John Doe can't operate from the offices, which is why they call to your home.

Do you have any correspondence from this guy. Check to see if they mention that they are regulated e.g. have they their CB regulation number?
 
Galwayduck said:
Given the uncertainty at the time, I agreed. He then presented a 'page' and asked me to sign it immediately. I trusted him, having worked with him for years, and assumed the investment was appropriate and secure.
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Didn't you read it before signing it?
 
Brendan Burgess said:
That is shocking
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That was my thought too. It reads like a financial version of a Trojan Horse. You have all these defences up for scams and bogus investments, and then you open your door and invite a trusted financial advisor inside to wreak havoc on your finances.
 
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