FCA Mandatory Risk Warning & Risk Summary for Non-Readily Realisable Securities which are shares
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all your money invested. This is a high-risk investment. You could lose all the money you invest and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Risk Summary
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
1. You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
3. You won’t get your money back quickly
- Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
- The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
- If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
5. The value of your investment can be reduced
- The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
- These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website.
FCA Mandatory Risk Warning & Risk Summary for Non-Mainstream Pooled Investments
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all your money invested. This is a high-risk investment. You could lose all the money you invest and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Risk Summary
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
1. You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business offering this investment fails, there is a high risk that you will lose all your money. Businesses like this often fail as they usually use risky investment strategies.
2. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover investments in unregulated collective investment schemes. You may be able to claim if you received regulated advice to invest in one, and the adviser has since failed. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
3. You are unlikely to get your money back quickly
- This type of business could face cash-flow problems that delay payments to investors. It could also fail altogether and be unable to repay any of the money owed to you.
- You are unlikely to be able to cash in your investment early by selling your investment. In the rare circumstances where it is possible to sell your investment in a ‘secondary market’, you may not find a buyer at the price you are willing to sell.
- You may have to pay exit fees or additional charges to take any money out of your investment early.
4. This is a complex investment
- This kind of investment has a complex structure based on other risky investments, which makes it difficult for the investor to know where their money is going.
- This makes it difficult to predict how risky the investment is, but it will most likely be high.
- You may wish to get financial advice before deciding to invest.
5. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.
For further information about unregulated collective investment schemes (UCIS), visit the FCA’s website here.