So these people who write advice on the financial pages... how qualified are they to provide you with general financial advice? Well, if Edmund Tirbutt's story is anything to go by, not very...

It felt satisfying to certify myself as a "sophisticated investor" to take advantage of what appeared an opportunity of a lifetime back in October 2005. After writing up a talk about Bulgarian property for a newsletter, my 20 years' experience in the financial services industry assured me it was a suitable home for some of the proceeds of my recent flat sale.

We reasoned that it was well worth chancing our arm with the minimum investment of £21,000 – only 10% of our available capital. It could make a significant difference to us if it lived up to expectations, whereas no investment opportunities regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) seemed to offer any real potential.

Nearly six tortuous years later I am not feeling so sophisticated. Barclays Wealth, the current managers and trustees of the fund, has finally stated that it no longer views our selected Arkoutino sub-fund as viable and estimates that its net assets are worth around 8% of the money originally invested. As the winding up process is complex and expensive we could receive back nothing at all.

Not wishing to be unkind, but you'd think that after 20 years writing about investing, Tirbutt would have picked up some of the basic investing rules, such as, uh, "don't put all your eggs in one basket." Or, you know, "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

While at the Mail on Sunday, Independent on Sunday and the Daily Telegraph, did none of his 18 awards for excellence cover the importance of proper diversification and careful due diligence? While he's clearly a very talented writer, rookie investment errors like this must call into question whether he's really in command of his chosen subject. Of course, he's in good company here: there are many other financial journalists who appear unable to comprehend even the most basic accounting or tax. 

And this comment is particularly cutting:

Edmund - sorry to hear that. I have successfully operated in Bulgaria since 2005, building up a €40 million portfolio in Sofia for my investors.

I have never heard of:

Jonty Crossick

Ready2invest

R2R Bulgaria Property Fund

Equity Trust

Arkoutino sub-fund

and feel sure I would have come across them if they genuinely existed. Who are their auditors, as maybe the whole thing is a scam? Do they have any assets which can be checked?

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Filed under: Other blogs, Regulation with tags bulgaria, diversification, edmund tirbutt, financial literacy, fsa, guardian