Pass the portfolio:
More bad news for the now hard pressed wine investment sector – Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments Ltd, 'Europe's Leading Fine Wine Investment House' and perhaps the longest established wine investment company (since 1995), is winding down its business and transferring its clients to Cult Wines Ltd. (See letter from Premier Cru: 31st July 2014 below).
Once again this development underlines the benefits of having your own account at a bonded warehouse with investors having control over their wine. Instead those investors, who had a portfolio with Premier Cru, now find themselves passed over to Cult Wines Ltd.
If I was a client of Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments Ltd I would be tempted to either open my own account at EHD (you will have
full control over your wine). Accounts could also be open other bonded warehouses for example at London City Bond's private accounts facility – Vinothèque – or with Octavian Vaults. Cult Wines Ltd uses London City Bond for their storage. However, as the wines are already at EHD is would make more sense to open an account there rather than transfer the wines elsewhere.
Alternatively consider companies that offer storage/portfolio management. These include Private
Reserves (www.privatereservesltd.com/ - contact Laura Goedhuis or have a look at Nexus Wine established by Mark Bevan @ http://www.nexuswine.co.uk, or you could also consider Arc Reserves.
Figures based on 31st August 2013 accounts:
Net Worth - 434.6K; current liabilities: 796K
More details (hope you like red and minus signs)
A fine wine bear market since 2011 has not been good news for wine investment companies. Before deciding to go with Cult Wines Ltd I would want to take a good look at their accounts. A post-tax profit of £150,564 in the accounts to 3st August 2011 has been transformed in two years to a post-tax loss of £403,014 (31st August 2013). Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments Ltd's financial position does not look healthy either – its latest accounts are slightly overdue – they should have been filed on 31st July 2014. More bad news there?
Letter from Premier Cru directors:
31st
July 2014
Dear
The Directors of Premier Cru Ltd are sorry
to announce the wind down of the business on an orderly basis as soon as
reasonably practicable. Our reasons for
doing so are largely personal and unfortunately have been forced upon us by the
serious illness affecting Stacey which we feel has impaired our ability to
deliver the level of service that you require from an investment in this
market.
We have therefore undertaken a review of
our market competitors and have concluded that Cult Wines, who are currently
the UKs leading fine wine investment company as the best positioned to assume
management of your portfolio and on this basis we are finalising an agreement
to migrate our private clients to Cult Wines (PCI) Limited which we hope to complete
by August 14th 2014.
The transfer of your account to Cult Wines
is not at this time unconditional and it is possible that Cult Wines will not
be in a position to assume management of your account, even if you should wish
them to do so.
In any event, should you wish Cult Wines to
manage your account, then that would be on the terms of an agreement between
you and Cult Wines under their terms & conditions of business, a copy of
which Cult Wines will provide to you, should you wish to open an account with
them. A brief summary of their terms
& conditions are set out below for your information.
Please note that,
prior to any new agreement between you and Cult Wines, Cult Wines is not able
to accept any liability or responsibility to either Premier Cru (Fine Wine
Investments) Limited or its customers.
Please see below
your current stock holdings in storage at EHD,the precise value of which will
be confirmed to you once you have agreed to transfer your account to Cult
Wines, whereupon they will carry out a full reconciliation of your final client
account & stock records.
Subject to that
reconciliation, below for guidance purposes at this stage is a statement of
your account:
It is important to recognise that we have
selected Cult Wines based on their range of market leading client services,
their position in the international fine wine market and the unique range of
online services which are unrivalled in this sector.
Cult Wines provide a very personal private
client service, a portfolio manager will be appointed to manage your account
and will provide access to their website where you can view your portfolio
holdings (which are revalued daily), weekly market reports and obtain a
tailored approach to maximising your investment in this market.
Portfolio Management Services:
Clients of Cult Wines will also receive a
unique portfolio management service which will include the following:
Cult Wines will allocate a dedicated
Portfolio Manager to each client account
Portfolio Managers are available at all
times to support client enquiries
Portfolio Managers are multilingual
including dedicated Chinese speaking staff
An online private client account with
Cult Wines
Online access to your investment
portfolio which is revalued on a daily basis
Clients can access a sold stock statement
to monitor all stock movements
Clients will receive a weekly newsletter
& market report
Clients will receive our leading edge
wine analysis on a weekly basis
Please do visit the Cult Wines website
www.wineinvestment.com, which is the No 1 site for fine wine investment.
You may also wish to visit
https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.wineinvestment.com to read independent
reviews from existing clients relating to Cult Wines’ services.
To help us complete the transition to Cult
Wines as quickly and as smoothly as possible, please confirm your agreement to
the transfer of your account to Cult Wines by no later than August
14th 2014. All you need to do is reply to
this notice indicating that you would be content to transfer your account to
Cult Wines. If we do not receive any
reply to this notice by August 14th 2014, we will assume that you do not object
to this transfer.
Cult Wines have arranged for the following
Terms & Conditions to be offered to all Premier Cru clients and will work
to ensure all clients are kept informed during the transitional phase.
Terms & Conditions for PCI clients
Clients of Premier Cru will be offered a
revised fee schedule when moving their account from Premier Cru to Cult Wines.
The following terms & conditions would apply specifically to this fee
schedule and be available to Premier Cru clients
The fee schedule is directly linked to the
provision of portfolio management services that will offered by Cult Wines to
each client. These are unique to the fine wine investment market and will
ensure all clients have access to a wide range of leading edge management
services.
Fee Schedule:
Cult Wines will charge a 5.0% annual
management fee for years 1 & 2 effective August 14th 2014 (this includes the
client set up fee). There is a liquidation charge of 5.0% on stock that is sold
or moved during year 1, Cult Wines will offer a reduction to 2.5% for stock
that is sold or moved during year 2
Cult Wines will also offer a reduced
management fee from year 3 of 1.75% per annum which includes a 0% liquidation
charge.
Fees will be payable within 30 business
days of invoicing and Cult Wines would reserve the right to collect fees from
the sale of client stock if unpaid after 30 calendar days. Clients would be
charged £1.25 per case/month which would cover all storage & insurance
charges for the term of the investment, this will be invoiced on an annual
basis.
If you have any questions in connection
with this notice, or wish to confirm that you are content to offer the transfer
of your account to Cult Wines, please email us at premiercru@cultwinesltd.com.
Alternatively, if you have questions about
Cult Wines, then please feel free to contact Philip and Tom Gearing, the
Directors and founders of Cult Wines.
Philip and Tom are best placed to explain their process and plans for
you and your portfolio going forward.
Their full contact details are:
Cult Wines Ltd, St Andrews House, Upper Ham
Road, Richmond TW10 5LA
Philip Gearing - 020 8332 9386 Director
Tom Gearing - 020 8332 9386 Director
Kindest regards
Stacey-Lea and Paula Golding
CEO and Co-Founder
Further posts on Pass the portfolio here and here
