The unlikely claims of Artemis Bellet

Extract from an email Matthew Mansell, Artemis Bellet Ltd, 16.6.2010
 

 'The Wine Fund has been a closed shop to new investors for the past 6 months (as we need time for the investment to mature and absolute exit for all clients) hence our repositioning in London to handle a smaller UK base. As we are part of a Genève based hedge fund we did not need regulation from either FSA or FINMA for any of our instruments even though we do actively urge individual regulation within the organisation and the majority of our employees are FSA licensed. We are a separate entity from Genève within this respect and have developed our own strategy in relation to return.'

I emailed Matthew Mansell on 16th asking for the name of Geneva based hedge fund and the name of the Wine Fund. Getting no reply I sent another email on 24th asking the same questions as well as requesting the names of the 'FSA licensed' employees. As yet I have had no response.
 
I note that there is no mention of the Geneva hedge fund on the Artemis Bellet Ltd site. Nor on a Google search does there appear to be any mention of a Geneva link, I would have thought that Artemis Bellet Ltd would want to strength the credibility of a company set up as recently as the 9th April 2010 by highlighting that they are a subsidiary of a Geneva based hedge fund.

A Google search does suggest that Artemis Bellet Ltd exhibited at the 2010 edition of the London International Wine Trade Fair (18th-20th May). In fact although they booked space they did not take it up as the exhibition's director, James Murray, explains: 'Artemis were scheduled to exhibit with us and appeared in the exhibitor listing in our preview, Grapevine.  They reserved a stand quite late on and then had a change of heart a few days later.'

Did Artemis Bellet Ltd decide understandably that the London International Wine Trade Fair wasn't the forum for a wine investment company or was it a usual ploy to gain credibility by appearing in the on-line list of exhibitors?

Until Artemis Bellet Ltd provide evidence that they are part of a Geneva hedge fund and have 'FSA licensed employees I have to assume that these claims are fanciful. 
  

   

Artemis Bellet Ltd

Today's inquiry:

Have you heard of this company? Artemis Bellet?
http://www.artemisbellet.com/about-team.php

My response:

Artemis Bellet Ltd is a very recently formed company. It was registered on 8th April 2010 and is based at 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London EV1V 4PY. The sole director is 32-year-old Ike Karl Chambers of Tooting, London. He was appointed on 4th June 2010, so it may well be that the company has only been trading for a week.

Despite the company's recent formation its website claims that 'a leading London based wine investment house focused on advising private and institutional clients across a broad range of diversified products'. Also their expertise is 'widely accepted' within the industry.

Further extracts from their website: 

'Who we are

Artemis Bellet is a leading London based wine investment house focused on advising private and institutional clients across a broad range of diversified products.

Since the company's founding, our values have been to sustain investment grade products to suit our client's individual portfolios. We provide solutions to help our clients proceed towards their goals by focusing on returns. We judge it is our responsibility not only to help maximise our client's investment potential but also to protect their assets and their family's future.

What we do
It is widely accepted we provide and source the best opportunities on investment grade fine wines within the industry. We present our clients with the most attractive and sought after tools to form a tailor-made and well diversified tangible investment.

In conjunction with our Purchasing Agents, we source our wines, your investment, directly from Château to secure provenance. Access to these finest wines gives our clients the benefit from the potential steep rise in value that can occur due to market demand.

Investments within fine wines' are not a new concept. Experts and enthusiasts have been reaping the rewards for hundreds of years and over the last quarter of a century fine wines have proved to be one of the most consistently stable, high yielding and low risk investments in the world.

Do I need to be an expert?
Absolutely not. Our experience and expertise is in identifying and sourcing wines which, in our opinion, have strong investment potential.

How quickly can I sell?
You can sell whenever you like, as the best wines of Bordeaux enjoy a ready secondary market. Whilst there are often impressive short term gains (our wines have increased by as much as 85% in the last 12 months alone).

Wine storage
Artemis Bellet recommends our clients to store the wines with a private trust account in a bonded warehouse, in this manner the wine belongs to you at all times and can only be removed from the bond with the combined signatures of that of the client / beneficiary in the event of death and Artemis Bellet.*

Provenance
Provenance is becoming increasingly important when you come to sell any of your wines. Private investors, auction houses and wine merchants will ask where and how the wine has been stored before agreeing to handle the sale. Artemis Bellet has built a treasured service of recommending and utilising their resources ensuring that the wines are in perfect condition for the future.

Some 10,000 private collectors, investors and wine merchants from 39 countries choose to store their collections at the bonded warehouse.

Stored securely at the bonded warehouse, 100 feet below the ground your wine is finer, safer and more valuable as a result.'

* This would appear to be utter nonsense. If you set up a private account at a bonded warehouse you have full control over your wine. Artemis Bellet Ltd would have no involvement. It is for this reason that I recommend people to set up their own storage accounts with a bonded warehouse.

I would not consider buying from Artemis Bellet Ltd until they had established a track record or shown evidence of an existing one. 

Update: 4th August 2012: Artemis Bellet Ltd was dissolved through a voluntary strike off on 26th July 2011.