CIS (Cooperative Insurance Society) Pensions Review

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Took out an ISA that had a 5% charge for your money. Paid in a large sum on the advise of the CIS financial advisor who informed me that the amount would be paid back in a year. No statements were ever sent and I contacted them 1 year later to ask for them. Found out that the advisor mis-sold me the policy and that I had less money in the account than I put in, even taking into account the charges. Your money is better sitting in the bank than with the CIS.
Do not use the CIS unless you are wanting to throw your money away. I lost over £800 in 14 months.
The savings plans I took out matured over 10 years on another investment and this lost money also. This is the only company that I know of that doesn't make your money work for you.

Members' Comments onstevenfyfe69's Review

• LimeFruit on 19th Nov 2009

  I have rated your review "Not Helpful" because, forgive me if it comes over as blunt, it smacks of pure ignorance, not to mention totally lacking in any detail or substance.
  Firstly, a 5% charge on a managed stocks and shares ISA fund (which I assume is what you took out) is a market average - not excessive by any means.
  Secondly, any stocks and shares fund is NOT designed for a quick return in 1 year and to suggest so is absurd. Apart from anything else, even if it made a good return in the first year, you need to leave it longer to justify the charge. They tend to be long term investments which can go up and down. The key to success depends on timing, strategy and logical commitment - not ignorance and emotion.
  Granted, your financial adviser sounds as if he or she gave no proper advice and left you totally in the dark. I'm not going to defend them by any means, they sound like a waste of space. But hang on, this is YOUR money. Surely you need to understand too.
  
  If an investment like the one you described goes DOWN, the best action is to put more money in because you'll be buying cheaper units. Then, when they ultimately go back up to where they were, you make a good return. Taking money out only crystallises what would otherwise be just a paper loss.
  I'm not going to judge you completely - I don't know all your circumstances and perhaps this was your life savings, in which case I feel for you. But nethertheless, you appear to have tackled your finances with no understanding or logical decision.
  
  Lastly, you described a 10-year product which fell short of the mark. Sounds like an endowment to me - and the whole market of endowments did badly, not just one company. They are hard to assess on returns because they include a charge for life insurance.
  
  I have business with CIS as well as other financial companies. Two or three of their funds are among the very best in the market and some are relatively poor. Overall, they have performed better then many other companies in this recession.
  
  So to sum up, I totally appreciate your experience was bad but your review is just a blast of emotion with very little fact, explanation or detail.