My Experiences with Globalfx Management Trading – by Tim Tracey
In the summer 2009 I responded to an internet advertisement offering managed forex trading accounts and a forex signals service. I originally spoke James Munro who told me his clients were making typical returns of 5% per month with a maximum loss per month of 12%.
I decided to open an account with Globalfx and in August 2009 made an initial deposit of £10k via Laiki Bank in Cyprus. Returns were indeed around 5% per month initially and all seemed well.
I later met David Hick in Nottingham and then in London between August 2009 and October 2010; then with Andrew Frankland in Manchester to discuss my forex trading account when we discussed the possibility of increasing my investment with Globalfx. Andrew Frankland also suggested I start to draw down a monthly amount from my account to supplement my income.
In February 2012 I met Andrew Frankland again in Derby; my account had grown to £93,000 by the end of 2010.
In March 2011 I invested a further £25,000 in my forex trading account with Globalfx and at about this time my father also opened an account with Globalfx. My account grew to £179,000 by the end of 2011 and then to £221,000 by September 2012
In October 2011 I arranged a monthly drawdown of £1,000. I duly received £1,000 in November and again in December and I received a further drawdown of £9,000 in September 2012 But after this I was informed that draw-downs were not possible due to some negative open positions which I was told were going to take some time to close.
After several conversations with David Hick and a new trading partner of his, Robert Mathewson, I agreed to transfer all my account into Bank of America CFD’s. This was during November and December 2012. However, only two thirds of my account was transferred. The remaining 1/3 was held back to cover the losing open trades. For a few weeks profits were very good.
Next, I was strongly urged by Robert Mathewson to cash in my pension and invest all of it in Bank of America CFD’s and to increase my investment in CFD’s to £1 million, which I was told I could do by authorising him to issue a broker guarantee. He told me I owed it to my family!
But then in February 2013 I received an email informing me that my CFD account was subject to a margin call which required me to invest a further £200,000 in order to save the position. I was not able to fund the margin call and in March 2013 I was informed that all moneys in my CFD account were lost.
My forex trading account was showing a balance of £57,823 in my statement dated May 2013. This was the last statement I received from Globalfx. I believe that this balance has been cancelled out by the negative open trades mentioned earlier, and if this is indeed the case then my total investment of approx. £100,000 has all been lost. There has been no reply to the argument that the losing trades meant that Globalfx removed stop losses, which contradicts my trading agreement with Globalfx. David Hick no longer sends statements to me.
In February 2013 I decided to take legal advice regarding my relationship with Globalfx and David Hick and later that year formed a group of unhappy Globalfx clients and initiated legal proceedings against Globalfx.
I have tried to call David Hick many times on the Zurich telephone number, which is quoted on account statements still being sent to certain clients. The women who answer the telephone and take messages promised to ask Hick to call me back, but he does not return my calls.
On 24th June 2014 I visited the address on Bahnhofstrasse 52, 8001 Zurich which is quoted on all correspondence from Globalfx Management Trading Ltd. There is no mention of this company name on the brass plate by the door although there is a similar name shown, namely “FX Trading 24”. I took the elevator to the appropriate floor and when I asked for David Hick the women behind the reception desk seemed familiar with him and asked me for my name and telephone number; these I duly wrote down and handed to them. They said they would pass my details to David Hick and would ask him to call me. They also told me that Hick is not based at that address and that he was probably in Brazil. To now, I have not heard back from him.