Adviser protests force payday loan sales site into overhaul

Laura Miller
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A firm marketing hedge fund and pay day loan investments to the general public has bowed to pressure from financial advisers and pledged to overhaul its website after concerns the language it uses sets out to deceive potential investors.

Ledger and Simmons promotes products on its company website that offer high "guaranteed" annual returns of up to 9% a year. A post on its public Facebook page from 11 August 2015 targeted inexperienced investors with the promise that "Many of our products offer ‪#‎GUARANTEED‬ returns far outweighing anything the novice investor may come across." Behind the eye-catching headline figures, however, products promoted to ordinary retail investors with names like Guaranteed Return Plans and Guaranteed Investment Plans are found to invest in what can be risky alternative investments includin...

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