Global Investor Group, with offices in London and Singapore, recently opened up in Cheltenham. Specialising in wealth preservation and creation, it has now won the exclusive rights to use its partner network to launch an innovative gold-blacked blockchain currency into the UK and Europe
Like most UK financial services companies, Global Investor Group has an office in London. However, the ‘City’ can be needlessly competitive and the pool of talent limited.
That’s why it made sense on several levels to expand into the regions.
Cheltenham is the first step, while there is a data centre also planned for Bristol
Global offers boutique financial and investment services to a select group of clients both in the UK and internationally.
It is a 21st century business; it pulls together a global range of experts and specialist services as required to help clients achieve top returns without taking unnecessary risks.
It can tap into decades of experience in private equity, stock markets and property investment, calling upon experts based in the UK, US, Asia and Australasia.
Rather than follow the herd and expand into another glass office in the City, Global chose to operate from Georgian premises in the heart of Cheltenham.
It stands out from the crowd in its ability to discover ‘Blue Chip’ equities which are, temporarily at least, undervalued.
It can point to a number of ‘ten bagger’ returns on the share market (where clients have enjoyed share price rises of 10 times or more) and has been an enthusiastic proponent of technologies that assist Bitcoin and other online ‘crypto’ currencies. These have risen from being virtually worthless a decade ago to being valued at several thousand pounds each today.
Electronic gold
The latest exciting development for Global comes in the form of an exclusive distribution agreement for Credyts - a new form of crypto currency that, unlike Bitcoin, is fully backed by physical gold.
“If we are right, Credyts will become as big as Bitcoin - and arguably it should be bigger because Bitcoin is not backed by anything, while every Credyts coin is backed by a physical ounce of gold. Then Global could become the centre of a new financial revolution right here in Cheltenham,” says spokesman Michael Taylor.
Credyts has been developed by an international group of companies with experience in electronic transactions, e-wallets and online trading exchanges.
Owners of the coins can store their gold in one of a number of specialist vaults around the world, insured by Lloyd’s of London, and can easily take physical delivery of the gold if they ever want to cash up.
The latest establishment to join is bullion specialist the London Mint Office.
That means those who live in the UK are only a train ride – or courier delivery - away from redeeming their electronic coins for gold should they ever want to do so.
“We do not see Credyts as being as speculative as unbacked cryptos like Bitcoin, however we
anticipate demand for goldbacked coins will be so high that they will trade at a substantial premium to the underlying gold value,” believes Taylor.
“The real value of a gold-backed currency, aside from the tax benefits, is the ability for people to have a store of value that is secure, can be moved around the world at the click of a button and is outside the traditional banking system.
“If you consider the number of banks that received a bailout, or worse, during the last financial crisis – the need for a ‘Plan B’ is critical.”
In addition, the use of such a reliable online currency will attract top-quality businesses globally.
“We believe a sort of ‘club’ will develop where people all over the world will trade with each other in
Credyts on a preferential basis.”
“Imagine swapping your Credyt while sitting in London with a colleague in New York who can, seconds later, withdraw an ounce of gold from a local vault!”
The first issue of Credyts is to take place in the UK where Blockchain Innovations has been appointed as an exclusive distributor.
The first opportunity with the company, however, may be the offering of shares to raise funds prior to an ICO (initial coin offering).
Investors who have found out about the offer simply by word-of-mouth are already very excited about Credyts’ used of blockchain technology.
Funds will be used for developing a network of businesses that will accept Credyts and finalising all the necessary infrastructure to ensure the coins are a global market leader.
“We plan to make Credyts bigger than Bitcoin - only golden. That’s why we are basing ourselves in the UK – the world’s strongest and most reputable financial centre,” says Taylor.
Unlike currencies that are not backed by any asset, Credtys can’t fall below the price of an ounce of gold.
The Global approach
Global’s approach is to provide a passive income by actively trading shares that others merely hold, using the best techniques from all styles.
For example, value investors don’t tend to use technical indicators, and technical traders rarely take the time to study a company’s financials.
“We are not wedded to any particular style. We have been doing this for a long time and, while our approach may seem unconventional, experience shows it really works,” says the company’s Singapore-based spokesman Gavin Williamson.
Unlike many active investors, the shares that Global researchers pick have to meet a number of strict fundamental criteria that even the famously conservative Warren Buffett would struggle with.
These include low levels of debt, high profit margins, reliable dividends and strong cash flows, to name a few.
These are all typical of the larger corporate shares known as ‘Blue Chip’ for their superior size and
performance.
Overlaying these are signals designed to buy and sell shares at the right time.
It uses a combination of computer algorithms and the oversight of an expert trader (some have over 30 years’ experience), and uses both to crunch numbers and filter shares according to its criteria.
The end result is a series of regular signals that can then be reviewed by clients before trades are placed.
Global is constantly looking to commission external advisers who are generating top results.
“Simply put: We ‘research the researchers’,” Williamson says.
Global’s clients are able to have funds in a trading account in their own name with any broker they choose, and Global merely places orders in response to client instructions.
This offers more security for the client and lower costs.
“The end result is that we have conservative Blue Chip stocks that are traded as if they are high growth ones. This has enabled us to generate higher returns at lower risk”, adds Williamson.
One secret, he says, is to target small but regular profits rather than go for the big gains that most investors try and achieve.
Also vital is keeping costs down.
“We get in and out of stocks regularly so minimise the impact of brokerage by ensuring clients invest the right amount - typically at least £25,000.
“Brokerage can be as low as £7 for a trade - plus we don’t charge any form of ongoing management or
administration fees”, he says.
“If we can take a profit after fees on 6 trades out of 10, and usually we do better than that, then clients don’t just make money, they make a lot of it.”
If not, clients have the ability to exit or switch strategies at any time so again the risks are minimised.
“If we didn’t add significant value for clients, we wouldn’t still be here.”
For more information, visit the Global Investor Group website.
