Macquarie Bank cops criticism for ‘get rich quick’ pitches
The bank is the target of customer backlash for allegedly failing to convey the risks and complexity of their financial products to unsophisticated investors.
Financial advisor and self-described ‘Dream Maker’ Peter Spann has been accused of aggressively mass-marketing Macquarie structured investment products between 2006 and 2009 through his financial advisory business, the now defunct Freeman Fox.
Peter Spann travelled the country giving sales pitches – which some attendees believe were given greater credibility due to the presence of Macquarie bank staff.
Macquarie has maintained that they are not responsible for any of the financial advice given by third party vendors such as Freeman Fox.
The financial products had been marketed as “capital guaranteed” meaning that investors could not lose their principal.
But some investors are claiming that they did not understand that they would be locked in and have to pay annual interest payments in advance, even if the investments lost a significant portion of their value.
Macquarie has declined to confirm how many people invested in the products through Freeman Fox as well as the monetary value of these investments.
