In 2018 the Daily Mail wrote “Once held in high esteem, Kingsbridge Asset Management was at the heart of football and other sports for more than 20 years. Two key advisors, Kevin McMenamin, 61, and David McKee, 60, were so trusted that some clients asked them to be godparents to their children.
They were familiar figures at football grounds in the early 1990s and their business grew thanks to word-of-mouth among cash rich sportsmen. One of their best known products was a niche film investment which relied on tax rebates from the Government. Six former cricket captains, including Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick, invested more than £3million alone. But the asset management firm’s empire came crashing down after the taxman accused the scheme of tax avoidance and started aggressively chasing lost revenue.”
In 2022, The Mirror reports “Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand are among the top football stars to have lost £25million after investing in a firm accused of fraud. The England and Manchester United legends will not get their cash back after police closed a probe into the company. Police said they did not have enough evidence to prosecute financial advisers Kingsbridge Asset Management.”
There are always failures from firms that lack integrity. However, it is almost impossible for individuals to know if they are dealing with advisors that have integrity or great salespeople without integrity. As such, if you are investing assets for your future, there is no substitute for unbiased due diligence. Some people will not recover from financial losses. Others may be more fortunate.
There simply has never been a more important time for all investors to pay for independent due diligence.