Australian Shareholder Centre

Gone into adminerstration? – I heard from Nz Halifax that aussie Halifax has gone into administration. Well it's been just over 3 years since the last stockbroker (BBY) went under, so a bit overdue for another. Why is the media all hush hush about it? I'm not sure who stole what and how much, but it looks like ASIC has failed once again. Looking for a stockbroker, go offshore, that's why a lot of politicians have offshore trusts.

Worst Investment ever – After continual harassment, we invested 20000.00 of our Super Fund with a 5000.00 entry fee into this organisation in 2014 when GFC was over with the verbal guarantee that we would with their expertise have a good return on our investment. Within a very short period they had dwindled our investment by half and caused us to cease any further… Read more

trading. When we enquired why this had happened we were told that the company had off loaded their head analyst and a number of his staff...They offered us a return of 1200.00 if we would sign a waver of confidentiality which we would not agree to. From that date the company would not answer any of our requests for further discussion on this matter.

Slow on communication – Time after time I would ask different question ,either by phone or email ,most of the time they would take days to get back to me and sometimes not at all.The final straw that broke the camels back was I found out through my Accountant that I had to re apply for my account (they did not inform me until much latter ).Such poor service I have… Read more

decided to go to Interactive Brokers ,they could not be any worse .

This is not about loosing money ,for it's up to Trader to take responsibility ,however saying that Halifax Brokers do not make any easier.

What a joke – Was conned into investing with an assurance of conservative methods and evidence of past successes. Not sure if it's a scam or just incompetence, as hard to see how they benefited by the poor trading record as your money was in a personal account at Halifax. When I decided to close the ASC account and cut my losses I was talked by the Halifax Rep… Read more

to leave it with them in a trading account, and did so believing them to be a reputable and experienced broker. However again probably through incompetence they managed to lose the rest of it so far better off doing your own research and investing than relying on these people.

A monkey with a pin would have done better! – I agree.. its a scam - it cost me $25,000. This was a big scam. I got their name from the ASX web site - which reflects badly on ASX. (Actually ASX assure me I am mistaken) The company claimed to have had a fantastic record of predicting ups and downs of the stock market (ASX) For example the Group B Trading was shown to deliver growth of… Read more

85% between 2007 and 2013 with no year generating less than 4% ROI. Compare this with the with the period between September 2014 and December 2014 where my $80,000 was converted into $60,000. I contacted Share Centre and was told that I was not the only customer that was less than impressed with their 'expert' advice (costing $5,000 per year)

I note that there are some kind comments here [link removed]

I wonder if this site is a scam too.

How to loose money quickly – Run Run Run Away This is the biggest scam. The only guarantee is that you will lose money fast. Very few of the trades in the groups A B & C ever made any money for me. I was once told that they were to have a change in the investment strategy. After that phone call the performance of the stock picks became even worse. I was offered a refund… Read more

of $2000 if I signed a disclaimer went away and kept quiet.

Guess what I am still waiting.

Anyone interested in starting a class action on these scammers?

Annoyed !!!

MINUS 5 STARS – The ASC destroyed $10000 of my money inside 6 months,and I believe a lot of people were caught because of their magnificent spiel.They also charged money to do this.I know not if they are totally incompetent or con artists If anybody is starting a class action count me in James walsh

A smooth talking – I have had an identical experience to a number of others - I paid $4990 for an "analyst" fee after being oiled up by them and sales spiel, but never invested. No luck trying to get in touch with them despite emails and phone calls. I would be happy to join any legal action people are considering against Australian Investor Services (aka Australian Shareholder Centre)

Terrible way to operate – After signing up with only one signature on our SMSF (legally it requires both signatures) we decided to cancel our subscription the following morning. We were told that was not possible. I was not happy with the decision but was told that the agreement stayed in place. We were told that we would continue to receive the full services of the… Read more

website. However, it was not long that these were discontinued. I attempted to contact them on numerous occasions without success. We will be taking this up with our solicitor, local politicians and social networks. We are not happy with the way they operate.

What a con – Paid the establishment fee of $4,990 on the 20 November 2013 but never traded with them. Recently have tried to contact them for a refund but no replies from emails or phone calls. Thankfully I had my suspicions about this organisation and did not forward any funds for trading. If anyone is taking any legal action for recovery or know whether ASIC is doing anything about this con company please advise through this review.

I have also been conned!! – I agree with the previous comments made and was also sucked in by their representative a smooth talking [name removed]. I paid $4,990 in February 2013 for them to lose 90% of my investment for me. Following their recommendation I transferred to Group A. Spoke to their National Account Manager [name removed] on 31/10/13 and he suggested I stick… Read more

with them as Group A had never failed to make a profit over a 12 month period! Based on my experience and their performance this has to be a scam. I am normally fairly cautious with my investments but was very foolish to trust this lot.

This business should be closed and the principals held to account.

Another victim – I am also a victim and agree with all the comments below. I lost 40% of my money plus a 5k fee and haven't been able to contact them since. Is there anything we can do?

I should have known better – We paid the establishment fee, but after reading some of the reviews, luckily didn't send any more money. Halifax are now trying to get me to invest, but we got suspicious about all the personal information they require and consider Halifax to be an accomplice in this questionable activity. We are pursuing this further with the appropriate authorities.

Complete disaster!!!! – I agree with all of these comments. I have had the same experience. Based on my experience with their performance they must be a scam. Their performance was perfect and reliable. Every month since April 2014 my investment lost money until 80% of it was gone. Absolutely consistent performance. And they don't every contact you after getting your… Read more

initial fee.

Over the same period I invested independently and made reasonable profits doing it. So much for the "experts". They are terrific at taking membership fees, trading fees at every corner, and in return you get a stunningly atrocious performance every month that is a fast route to losing your money.

Don't deal with them (under whatever name they now trade) unless you like losing your money - fast. They should be shutdown immediately.

SCAM SCAM SCAM – After paying the $4990.00 and investing $15000.00 the so called experts proceeded to loose my money in quick time. I have $6000.00 left. After looking at their web site It would seem they are no longer trading What can we do to sort these scam artists out?

Rip off – Paid $5000 Dec 2013 to have them lose a large sum of money in short time.Now my super fund auditer wants details but I am finding it impossible to find a contact for them.Could anyone help with a contact of some sort for them

How can we get a class action going ? – I paid the $4,990 upfront commission only to see my $10,000 investment gradually dwindle down to $5,000 over a couple of months. Despite assurances from them that things would turn around, I realised I had made a huge mistake and I instructed the brokers (Halifax) to cease trading on my account. Altogther I have lost around $10,000. I have… Read more

downloaded the ASIC and ACCC forms and I am thinking of lodging complaints with these organisations. Is there some way we can get a class action going ? These scam artists should be stopped in their tracks ! Stay clear of them !

Sore Looser – All sounds too familiar. Since I commenced to deal with these people in August 2014, they have not returned numerous phone calls or emails. I paid the initial $4990.00 to get their advice and invested $20,000.00 and have now suspended my trading account after loosing approx 60% of my money. However I do not intend to leave the matter there… Read more

something needs to be done about these people if only to protect future investors.

Why don't we get our heads together and take the matter further?

There's got to be a law against this scam – I invested 25000 with these con artists and they lost the lot in 12 months they dont answer any emails or phone calls and l received no paperwork for tax purposes.

A Great Big Scam !! – Having read the other reviews, it is all so familiar. $ 5000 to join in June of 2014. Wonderful graphs outlining how fantastic the results were - a shame the results with my money were not as good. I invested $ 20 000 and at no stage did my investment ever get above $ 20 000. I initially was in A and B. Contacted them and was told to change to A.… Read more

Stopped dealing with them at just over $ 7 000. Pity I didn't do my homework before getting involved with these sharks. Halifax are just as bad as Australian Shareholder Centre. The old saying, 'If it seems too good to be true, it probably is !!'

Why is a company like Australian Shareholder Centre allowed to continue to trade? – Beware of “Share Centre” also known as “Australian Shareholder Centre” (ASC). Why can't they be prevented from continuing to lose the nest egg from small investor over and over again? Just read the multitude of disgruntled ex- clients. "It's time for ACCC or ASIC to stepped up to the plate" The “ASC” is a company based on… Read more

the Gold Coast Queensland that offers small investors the opportunity to utilize their supposedly expert and proven services to trade on the Australian and USA stock markets using CFDs (contracts for difference) in three different categories. To do so you need to pay them a substantial one-off "client fee", “mine was a special offer of $4990” down from $6,990 being the standard entry fee.

The company, I find out now has recently changed their name (and address) to Share Centre at 155 Varsity Place Varsity Lakes Queensland.

In October 2013 very smooth-talking and plausible representative of the ASC contacted me by phone, and subsequently took me through a lengthy sales pitch and a guided tour of their website. The material on the website looks impressive, and among other things, it provides detailed data on their past performance with their clients' investments. Together with the persuasive spiel and pressure over a couple of weeks, they managed to convince me that the ASC was a well-established, reputable company with an excellent track record.

The arrangement was that Australian Shareholder Centre were the experts, communicating trades to Halifax Investment Services who would perform the trade, my holding account was then with Halifax (eg $25,000 was agreed upon). I would like to know if ASC also get “a bonus” from Halifax for every trade?

“The client” could chose which category of investments you wish to invest in Group A, B or C.

B and C had overseas content with more exposure and A “being Low Risk” and more directed towards the Australian share market. Being more conservative I chose Group A

Before I agreed to become a client I went through the “Trade Statements” section of the ASC website carefully, and after adding and subtracting figures for the previous 6 months, it seemed to demonstrate that the company had in fact obtained very good returns, in agreement with the graphs and statistics that were displayed on the website regarding their performance over the past 6 years or so since 2007.

I also carried out a search of the web looking for any comments, reviews or complaints about the ASC, but couldn’t find any at that time, adverse or otherwise.

In November 2013 I eventually agreed to pay $4,900 to become one of their “clients”, and also deposited $25,000 into an account with the ASC's broker, Halifax Investment Services. However, since I have been with them, their dealings have been almost uniformly disastrous, and to date had lost $7,050 in the share market transactions they have carried out on my behalf and of course the “client fee” of $4,990 ($12,040 in total). This figure also includes brokerage costs (which I was aware of before becoming a client) as well as the broker's monthly "finance fees". Despite being given reassurances from the Australian Shareholder Centre (ASC) that this poor result was just a temporary downturn due to the current volatility of the stock market.

Being concerned with the poor performance I had discussions with ASC in September 2014 and was convinced again to “hang in” as they are in a phase of improving their strategy also embarking on a “bonus Share Recommendation” which they will give further advice on the market.

February 2015 I suspended my account with the brokers Halifax to cut my losses and they gave me the indication many other ASC clients have opted out also. My losses "on the investment amounts to over 40.1%" over a 16 month period while ASX200 has gone from 5230 points to 5811, over 11% increase over that period.

Having done more internet research since I cancelled my account, and read comments from so many other people who also have lost substantial sums of money with a lot more stock market knowledge than I have, check out the “Aussie Stock Forums website”, “Rip- Off”, productreview.com.au etc, it now seems likely that the people running the ASC have had other failed companies with exactly the same business model as they continue to "Name change".

The names of these companies are “URL”, "Active Traders", "Australian Stock Investment Group" and now are trading under "Share Centre". ASC have received very poor reviews on this website from people with similar experiences to mine.

I am only one of many saying.... Stay clear

Goodbye Investment Fee – Whilst searching internet to buy shares in November 2014 received call from smooth talking rep from AIS. Convinced me to part with almost $5000 fee for trading in CFDS. Fortunately for me it seems I didn't have the required $20000 minimum to invest. I was contacted by Halifax and was told which of my share portfolio to sell to raise the money,… Read more

which I did,

I then sent my personal details to Halifax to open account, so now my identity is out there!

When I received the proceeds of the share sale I attempted to contact AIS to ensure I was still registered & that I was ready to begin trading.

Since January 2015 I have made countless calls to both their 1300 number & their direct 07 numbers with absolutely no return calls.

I have also sent many emails , the only response was one brief note asking when I would be available for a call, since then they are dead in the water!

According to Halifax, AIS are the real deal & still submitting recommendations !

I have contacted the QLD Fraud Squad , Scam watch , ASIC.

I have not put any money into my Halifax account so my losses are only the $5000 fee.

It would have been good to read the reviews that have been posted before I agreed to send money

Atrocious Investment Results - Unprofessional Company – My experience with this Company (they seem to have changed their name to Australian Share Centre) is similar to all those above. It cost me $5k to join in March last year and over a period of 3 months they lost me $4000. I stopped trading at that stage as they assured me that they were going through a bit of a dip which was normal but would… Read more

improve. I've monitored their performance for 9 months since then and it has not improved at all and if I had not stopped their trading I would have lost my entire investment by now. I've now closed my account.

The only ones making any money are the Australian Shareholder Centre (ASC) and Halifax. Halifax are making large commissions and paying trailing commissions to ASC. I have tried to talk to someone at both Halifax and ASC but they are always all busy and no one ever returns my calls.

ON NO ACCOUNT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY AS IT WILL ONLY COST YOU YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.

How to lose 75% of your money in 10 months – Without going into a lot of Detail I invested $20K in June of last year in a B account and six months later it had halved to 10K. I phoned them about my concerns and similarly was advised to move it to an A account and that their "investor had performed poorly and they had replaced with a much better person. Checking today my 10K has become $5K.… Read more

Ive closed my account. Enough is enough. A 10 year old child could have better success than this. AVOID this company at all costs.

Australian Investor Services are nothing but charlatans – I paid the establishment fee late 2014. I opened a trading account of $15,000 in Jan. 2015 & started getting some worrying signs shortly afterwards. Unanswered phone calls & the like. I then went on line & discovered they were dodgy at best. Miraculously, due to their ineptitude they had not started trading on my behalf & I was able to retrieve my… Read more

$15,000. But I've lost the $4,900 establishment fee of course.

Curiously, I did receive a phone call & after telling them of my concerns was offered the opportunity to get my money back. However, any attempts to communicate my request for refund failed (unsurprisingly). I even wrote a formal request to the address on their website but it was returned RTS not at this address. Incidentally, they've had 2 addresses in the short time I've been dealing with them.

The bottom line: they appeared genuine, they were slick, I was naive, I've done my dough.

Disaster -action needed – I put in $50k last June into a B account with Australian Shareholder Centre which became $40K by December. I called to cancel account but was convinced to transfer to a very safe A account "until they got issues sorted ". Told A account had 2-4 transactions per month , and only blue chip -no CFD's. Stupidly I agreed . Was away in Jan, checked… Read more

account on 15th Feb abs balance now about $30k-looked at transactions and numbered 100 trades in 6 weeks -about half of those CFD's. Have closed account but cannot get any explanation or contact. They should be sued and then closed down forever..

Giant Rip Off – $5000.00 to join so they can lose another $9000.00 in just 6 months. All I got was promises it will get better but it didn't now they don't even have the manners to answer my calls or emails.

Hopeless – Even with a $300 stop loss on every trade and a buoyant economy ASC lost me $8,102.55 over 12 months. Their claimed 40% win rate is a joke as is paying them $5k to lose your money. The joke is on me. Don't go anywhere near them.

Rip off merchants – I concur with the comments posted. It concerns me that they have operated as previous business. I would be interested to know if anyone has lodged any formal complaints to Trading Standard agencies, Australian Stock Exchange, etc ? I'm not prepared to just sit back and accept the loss.

Run as far away as you can! – Worst decision I have ever made investing via ASC......... due to illness thought professionals could do better than I would - should have continued myself. Criminal what they have done to so many investors and you speak with broker at Halifax and they simply say they are following recommendations, they merely complete the trades on behalf of ASC.

Unsatisfactory to the point of dishonesty – Like the other contributors, it cost me $5k for Aus. Investor Services to then lose me another $9k. No phone calls, no explanation - don't touch them.

Changed name again – Latest incarnation is australian investor centre It all sounds very convincing, look very hard at the risk's. Same abn Do your own research

Absolutely poor performance - avoid – I invested with this group in September 2014. Since then their trading has been very poor gradually losing over $12000 in their trading program till I stopped it on 19 Feb 2015. They have not answered my phone call yet but I will persist to try to find why they are such a poor performer. My advice is do the trading yourself. Do not use them

DO NOT ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THIS COMPANY – Do not enter into a contract with Australian Shareholder Centre. You WILL LOSE YOUR MONEY. And when you do pull out nobody will call you to ask why. $5000 upfront fee is a ripoff. If you have been sucked into it get out now before you lose all your money.

Australian investor service – I wish I had have read this before getting mixed up with this company, If you are in get out, they rip you off. They now wont even return my calls, AKA Australian share centre, Share centre, Australian investor services, al have the same ABN 53 138 723 412 Steer Clear