Old Mutual International (formerly Skandia International) (OMI) and Friends Provident International (FPI) sold investment products described as “Portfolio Bonds” or “Insurance Bonds” (with specific product names such as the “Executive Investment Bond” and the “Reserve Investment Bond”). These investment products are referred to below as “Bonds” and were sold to customers all over the world – in particular, expatriate retirees.

The aim is for investors to receive between 69% and 79% of recoveries, return on their principal funds invested together with interest. However, the return will depend on various factors that cannot be predicted at the moment, including whether or not the defendants make an early settlement offer, and so it is impossible to be definitive at this early stage or offer any guarantee of what might be recovered.

We are not aware of investors managing to recoup their losses through any other routes. The sale of the products was structured in a way which means that investors are unable to benefit from any FCA compensation schemes (and the equivalent Isle of Man regulator has no comparable scheme). It is highly unlikely that recoveries will be possible through the liquidation of the Failed Funds since there is little or no value left in them, and neither OMI nor FPI are likely to compensate investors voluntarily. In short, a legal claim against OMI and FPI is likely to be the only viable route open to investors to recover compensation for their losses.

The Class Actions are being managed by a Claiments Management Committee which includes fellow investors, Consisting of a business man and two experenced lawyers.

If either of the Class Actions are defended all the way to a final judgment, we estimate that they may take one to two years to resolve in the Isle of Man Courts. Either Class Actions may be resolved sooner through medeation procedings leading to a settelment.

No. A litigation funder has agreed to finance the legal costs of the proceedings. The litigation funder has also agreed to cover any adverse costs exposure in full and has agreed to put in place an insurance policy to cover a potential adverse costs exposure. You will therefore not be required to make any financial contribution to the legal costs of pursuing the Class Actions and the litigation funder has agreed to meet any liability for the defendants costs if either of the Class Actions should fail. If there is a successful outcome, the Legal Team and litigation funder will be paid out of part of the proceeds, as will the management costs of the Committee.

Yes, provided you agree with the information that they provide in response to the questionnaire.

You can only participate in the Class Actions if you were sold a Bond (or a structured product linked to a Bond) by OMI or FPI.

You may be able to join the Class Actions. Please provide us with copies of your supporting documents and we will confirm whether you are able to join.

There are time limits to bring Class Actions for losses of this nature. However, we believe that the vast majority of investors will still be in time to bring their claim. We will, however, ask you to complete some questions in a questionnaire in order to assess whether that you qualify.

Expat Investment Fraud specialises in investigating and bringing large claims against financial institutions.

You will be added to the database for submission for the Class Action and we may require further information from you. The Legal Team will inform you when you have been added to the Class Actions.

Whether and on what terms you are entitled to surrender failed funds (for example, so that you can exit all your holdings) is likely to require financial advice specific to your situation which we cannot give. In addition, it may depend on the terms and conditions you signed up to originally. If the failed funds are held through a trust type structure it may also be a matter for your trustee to consider. You may therefore wish to take your own professional advice before redeeming. If you do decide to surrender the failed funds or in any other way relinquish your rights to them, you will need to notify us immediately so that your status can be updated and any charges or other financial penalties incurred as a result of the redemption can also be recorded.