ThomasLloyd refers to the ThomasLloyd Group, an advisory and investment company founded in 2003. The company says it is one of the world’s leading impact investors and climate financiers, with current assets of over €3.7 billion for more than 60,000 private and institutional investors.
Headquartered in Zurich, the group’s parent company is based in London.
ThomasLloyd payouts
ThomasLloyd has stopped monthly payouts since October 2020. The closed-end funds affected are
- CTI 20,
- CTI Vario D,
- CTI 5 D,
- and CTI 9 D
Already the distributions for June, July and August 2020 were later than planned. Affected there were investors of the
- Cleantech Infrastrukturgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.,
- Third Cleantech Infrastrukturgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG,
- and Fünfte Cleantech Infrastrukturgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
The decision was justified by an increased need for money due to the investment in three solar power plants in the Philippines, which ThomasLloyd sold in 2015. Are you also affected by this payout freeze? Contact us and let us inform you about your legal options in a free initial consultation. Please use our contact form.
ThomasLloyd consumer protection
ThomasLloyd already made negative headlines in 2019. Stiftung Warentest put the closed-end funds CTI 5 D, CTI 9 D and CTI Vario D on the warning list for investment offers. The decision was justified with the following arguments:
- The funds named were launched before the entry into force of the strict German Capital Investment Code in July 2013, with no specific investments named by ThomasLloyd. however, “blind pools” are unsuitable for private investors in particular.
- Private investors have to commit themselves for many years and are threatened with total loss.
- The calculation of returns is unusual and the key figures hardly comprehensible.
- Although ThomasLloyd has collected a lot of money from investors, only a few projects have been carried out.
ThomasLloyd experience
ThomasLloyd was among investors with investments in infrastructure projects in Asia. It advertised investment solutions that were 100% sustainable. The investments would therefore always pursue ecological and social goals, so that the investor could be sure that his money would flow exclusively into sustainable projects. The promised returns apparently did not miss their target. Already in 2018, 50,000 investors subscribed to a total of 147.8 million euros.
Criticism already in 2013
in 2013, Stiftung Warentest conducted a test on investments. The test examined whether the information provided by the providers on their asset investment information sheet (VIB) complied with the legal requirements.
Initially, ThomasLloyd did not provide an information sheet on its website for the infrastructure funds CTI 8 and CTI 15. The reason given for this was that only an “updated” version of the summary information had to be accessible.
Since only the original version existed and not an “updated” version, this did not have to be published. However, this has been done in the meantime.
Repayment offer of zero euros
More unusual news around ThomasLloyd also followed in 2019. Investors received mail with a deadline until the end of February. The background was a restructuring of the company. Two ThomasLloyd companies were to merge to form CT Infrastructure Holding (CTIH) based in London.
The holders of profit participation rights and profit participation certificates who had already given notice and were waiting for their money to be paid out were to decide within the deadline whether they wanted to stick to the notice or become shareholders without voting rights.
What sounds like an alternative is unlikely to have been one, given the redemption price offered: In February 2019, the redemption price was €0.00.
ThomasLloyd – What’s behind it?
Stiftung Warentest points out that ThomasLloyd collected a lot of money but invested only little of it in projects in Asia. The company in turn justified this disproportion with profit-independent withdrawals, distributions, placement costs and interest.
The largest share of the capital had been invested in two biomass power plants in Southeast Asia. Stiftung Warentest could not find any other infrastructure projects in the published documents. The now stopped distributions raise further doubts about ThomasLloyd‘s promise of returns.
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Author: Arthur Wilms, lawyer