Wickham Securities & DIY Superannuation Services

(Sim - please feel free to move this thread to a more appropriate location if necessary).

This last week (January 2013) Brisbane based financial group Wickham Securities and associated companies were put into voluntary administration with PPB Advisory acting as the administrators for Wickham, with the remaining companies being administered by Taylor Woodings.

I intend this thread to become a resource for any investors or businesses impacted by the collapse of this group by providing links to useful stories and information.

Companies involved relate to Brisbane financial planner Brad Sherwin include:

• Wickham Securities Limited
• DIY Superannuation Services Pty Ltd
• Sherwin Financial Planning Pty Ltd
• Astor Funds Pty Ltd
• Blue Diamond Investments Pty Ltd
• Reacroft Pty Ltd
• SP Property Pty Ltd
• Wickham Capital Pty Ltd

The following links are for the administrators:

PPB Advisory - Wickham Securities Limited
Taylor Wooding - Other companies including Sherwin Financial Planning & DIY Superannuation Services

ASIC has information here in regards who you should contact in regards to any enquiries:
ASIC - Wickham Securities, Sherwin & DIY Superannuation Services

More to come.
SM

 

The following is a good summary of the sequence of events:



From the Courier Mail 28/01/2013

 

The plot thickens....+ Noteholders meeting 5th February 2013

OK- a couple of updates:

Firstly, there will be an informal meeting of note holders on the 5th of February 2013 at 3.00pm (Registration at 2.00pm) at the following address:

Avro & Bristol Rooms
Royal on the Park
152 Alice Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000

PPB Advisory (the administrators) have recommended that all note holders / investors should attend, however there will be no formal resolutions made - it will purely be used to provide information.

Note holders need to register using the following form:
View attachment 826 - it says that they should be send to Sandhurst Trustees no later than 48 hours before the meeting if possible.

Secondly, PPB Advisory has issued a report to the creditors, which as expected does not read well for note holders.
Wickham Securities Limited PDF

I recommended all Wickham note holders read the report.

The loans Wickham issued to borrowers which had a book value of $28m are now expected to be worth only $1.7 to $6.3m - meaning $0.06 to $0.22 cents in the dollar is available to pay note holders and other creditors.

PPB Advisory has also highlighted some potential dodgy dealings that have been reported to ASIC including:

• A falsified Bank Confirmation Statement was provided to Sandhurst Trustees indicating the company had $10,779,835 in one of it's accounts as at 30/11/2012 - PPB has found only $37k as at 04/01/2013
• A number of related party transactions are being investigated
• Wickham accepted $1,962,500 from note holders after 14/01/2012 - however the prospectus issued 15/12/2010 said it was only open for 13 months
• Interest payments made since January 2012 were made using application monies from new investors (which is basically illegal)
• Wickham entered into contracts to sell security properties with related company Creative Property Consultants Pty Ltd invoicing Wickham $40k for a 'marketing fee'
• The company auditor issued an unqualified audit report for the 2012 financial year on 12 September 2012 but has yet not provided PPB with the company books and records

The following article on propertyobserver.com.au 31/01/2013 summarises the initial findings of PPB:
Administrators find $10.8 million black hole in Wickham Securities

It is sad that many investors in Wickham were clients of Sherwin Financial Planning and DIY Superannuation Services. I would recommend clients of these companies seek new providers for their ongoing advice and SMSF administration requirements.

SM