Advisers face complaints over film investments Almost 500 investors are considering complaints against their advisers for allegedly mis-selling investments in film production companies and other alternative structures over the past decade. Some investments, including film partnerships, have left investors potentially facing multimillion pound bills after Revenue & Customs challenged their tax arrangements. Other unregulated schemes, which promised market-beating returns by investing in alternatives such as foreign property, wine, crops or classic cars, have made losses, leading the Financial Services Authority to propose a ban on selling such schemes to retail investors in August. Consultation on the ban closes next week, but the FSA estimates that about 114,000 of 142,000 investors thought to have invested in such schemes "may have been unlawfully promoted and/or unsuitably recommended" products. So-called "unsophisticated investors" invested £2bn of the £2.3bn held in unregulated collective investment schemes (Ucis) with £1.7bn more invested in similar products. This has resulted in investors considering complaints against advisers who sold them the schemes. One firm acting for complainants has dubbed the mis-selling of investments as "PPI for the wealthy." Alastair McEwan, of Rebus Investment Solutions, said he believed there were parallels with banks selling unnecessary payment protection insurance. "The financial services industry devised PPI for the man in the street, interest rate swaps for businesses and Ucis for the wealthy," he said. Up to 3,000 firms marketed Ucis schemes, with almost four-fifths breaching regulations when doing so, according to the FSA. Although the schemes appealed to celebrities and wealthy investors, Mr McEwan said doctors and teachers were among his 400-plus clients mulling over compensation claims. Rebus is representing more than 60 investors in Eclipse 35, a film production scheme that lost its right to tax relief, pending an appeal, after losing a tribunal. Others are investors in Ingenious Media films and computer game schemes, which are awaiting a tribunal after the Revenue refused to close an inquiry into its tax status. Investors in Eclipse include Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, and Sven Göran Eriksson, former England coach. Advisers sold investments in Ingenious to Andrew Flintoff, former England cricketer, and Sir Bob Geldof, but it is not known if any of these are complaining. Eclipse and Ingenious are not the subject of complaints, which are against certain advisers that sold investments. James Clayton, chief executive of Ingenious Media, said it had not received any complaints from investors. We communicate regularly with them and would know if this was happening. There has been no loss. It feels like a trumped up story. He said he was confident of the quality of the advisers selling the schemes. These are performing commercial investments which continue to deliver returns. It's simply not comparable to PPI. Future Capital Partners said: "While we were not party to how the product was directly marketed by advisers, the appropriate investor audience and risks regarding the investment were clearly stated in all investment documentation and during our engagement with advisers." Pannone, a Manchester law firm, has about 50 clients and is taking steps to ensure they are able to litigate against advisers in case the Revenue is successful in denying tax relief. In a typical film scheme, investors would borrow several times their stake, claiming tax relief on the loan interest and early losses for film investments. However, in the Eclipse case, the Revenue successfully argued it was not trading with a view to a profit and is claiming tax on the partnership's earnings, landing investors with bills of up to 20 times the tax otherwise payable. Summarising a typical complaint regarding mis-selling, Kit Sorrell, a Pannone partner, said: "Investors were told they could lose their tax relief. Nobody said they could be liable for tax on money they never saw. He predicted a "tsunami" of complaints against advisers. The FSA has taken enforcement action against seven advisory firms and 13 individuals, though none relate to the sale of film schemes. The Financial Ombudsman Service said it was dealing with about 200 Ucis complaints, with very few involving the sale of investments in film partnerships. Unregulated collective investment schemes that offer ordinary savers the chance to invest in exotic, illiquid assets have become increasingly popular in the past few years, writes Elaine Moore Although the schemes can be lawfully sold in the UK, they are not subject to the same investment and borrowing restrictions as regulated investment schemes such as unit trusts, and so are considered higher risk. Their unregulated status also means that investors cannot claim compensation from the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the scheme goes bust. Unauthorised Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS) gained notoriety in 2009 when nearly 30,000 investors lost money after buying packages of second-hand insurance policies, known as death bonds, from Keydata, which collapsed. In April 2012, the Financial Services Authority said that the schemes should not "generally be marketed" to retail investors but it was not until the regulator found evidence that most sales were unsuitable that it announced plans to restrict their promotion. Existing investors in unregulated investment schemes who believe they may have been mis-sold the products have been advised to raise their concerns with their adviser. Although the products are unregulated, advisers who sell them are regulated, which means that investors can take their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they remain unhappy. Thirsty Asian and Latin American collectors have boosted the price of vintage wines. At the start of October, Sotheby's recorded its most successful two-day wine auction sale, raising £5.9m, slightly above the amount estimated. Christie's also made record wine sales in the first half of 2012. Several hundred film and computer game investment schemes were established from the early 2000s after tax-friendly rules to help the industry were introduced. Many allowed investors to borrow several times their stake. They could then claim tax relief on the loan interest as well as the first-year losses. Bamboo has been hailed as the timber of the 21st century now that new processing methods have increased the ways in which it can be used. The World Bamboo Organisation estimates that the market for the crop could double in the next five years, which has attracted investors. The possible returns available in the historic cars market were illustrated by the recent sale of a Ferrari 250 GT short wheelbase Berlinetta. It sold for £3.5m - almost £1m more than similar models sold 12 months ago,