Private investment: safety rules in pursuit of high returns

High profitability, affordable services... and a whole line of courses, consultants and financial bloggers. Novye Izvestia figured out how to learn how to manage your finances competently without becoming a victim of proliferating info-gypsies and cunning clingies.

A couple of years ago, financial savings were not sent to the nightstand or to a bank deposit, unless the wealthiest citizens - those who could risk a certain amount of money without prejudice to their own well-being. Or a narrow layer of specialists who are well versed in the nuances of exchange trading and the essence of various complex financial instruments. Now everything is different. By the summer of 2021, the number of private investors registered on the Moscow Exchange exceeded 12 million.

But there is also the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, which specializes in the securities of foreign companies, and a host of brokerage companies, investment banks and other management companies with their own over-the-counter products and their own clients, which are not included in the general statistics.

According to the Central Bank, 15% of the economically active population has become investors in Russia.

"MMM" is gone, the scammers remain

In theory, the development of the financial market is good: available capital for business and additional income for investors. But Russia here, as always, has its own way: the more popular investments, the more people lose money. Everything is like in the 90s. Only then did they give money to MMM, and now millions of people believe in the miraculous power of the stock, currency, cryptocurrency exchanges and the people who work there. But fraudsters everywhere are a fact. There are a lot of examples - here in Komi a woman lost about 3.8 million rubles allegedly on the stock exchange, guided by the advice of "specialists", in Chelyabinsk, a woman, transferring money through ATMs to various accounts in the hope of making money on the stock market, gave scammers 2.6 million rubles. in another case, fraudsters, pretending to be a serious investment company with an office on the 50th floor of a tower in Moscow City, lured out 1.5 million rubles, offering a yield of "from 50% per year." And sometimes scammers brazenly go out on the ignorance of clients, they say they know everything, and the client is a sucker who does not understand anything about investments, so there is nothing to ask stupid questions, directly pointing out this. Adequate offers from serious companies are drowning in the stream of advertisements of outright scammers, and just "info-gypsy" offering various courses, training, trading signals (instructions on what to do - buy or sell assets on the stock exchange), which only need a hype, and more.

Moreover, as the authors of the largest financial telegram channel Coin Post, specializing in exchange trading, note, it is not bad for the "info-gypsies" with their training courses and "invaluable" knowledge.

- Info-gypsies are not the worst ones yet. Very rarely, but they come across normal training courses, the problem is that when you buy such a course, you never know what is inside and whether it was worth it. Maybe you could just as well have read Wikipedia. Much worse are simply scammers who, under any pretext (investments, signals, trust management, pyramid), will simply take your money.

In order not to become a victim of fraudsters, by default you need to suspect everyone, without exception.

It used to be much easier to identify swindlers: if they promise high profitability, then they are definitely scammers. But 2020 turned everything upside down. Stocks of companies fell and soared, and the fivefold rise in the Bitcoin exchange rate completely broke all the templates about investments. The authors of the Nebrekhnya telegram channel say that now not only crooks can have beautiful reports.

- An ordinary investor will not be able to distinguish scammers and info-gypsies from serious offers. The stock market in 2020 provided very great opportunities to generate income. After the failure in March-April, associated with the pandemic and the fall in oil prices, a rapid rise in share prices began even for those companies that suffered greatly and suffered large losses: aviation, cruise. Those who undertook to teach beginners, against this background, could give quite successful recommendations, even without having good experience.

A fly in the ointment from whites and fluffy ones or what kind of pig can legal companies put on

But even companies operating in the legal field, which are under the control of the Central Bank, strive to pull out the client's money at any cost. According to Igor Kostikov , chairman of the Council of the Union of Consumers of Financial Services (Finpotrebsoyuz), a large company licensed by the Central Bank will at least not be a swindler and simply will not openly steal your money. But it still won't save you from various tricks. Companies can hide possible risks, sell one product under the guise of another. Brokers manage to make money even on "free" accounts. The authors of the Coin Post telegrams cite as an example, perhaps, the most famous and sensational broker in the world, Robinhood.

- The best example is the online broker Robinhood. They offered to trade stocks without commissions. Then it became known that the company was selling data on customer transactions. And then in general it turned out that the commissions were zero only in theory, when buying / selling shares, a margin was made on them, which was then returned to Robinhood. There was a scandal in the media, the SEC promised to sort it out, but everything somehow calmed down and Robinhood continues to make plans for an IPO. So hidden commissions and services that you did not know about, but pay, are already yesterday, even though they are still being used. Now they make money on "zero" commissions.

The situation has aggravated so much that the problem was even voiced by Vladimir Putin. Lawmakers usually do not ignore such signals and must do at least something. And on September 19, 2020, State Duma deputies at once in the second and third readings approved a bill obliging financial organizations to provide an exhaustive description of the product, and introducing customer testing as early as October 1, 2021, instead of the previously planned April 1, 2022. And already on September 21, this bill was on the approval of the Federation Council. No protests from representatives of financial organizations and banks prevented it from being accepted. On May 19, 2021, the deputies approved in the third reading another bill, which completely prohibits the sale of complex products to unqualified investors, such as bonds of foreign issuers with an indefinite maturity, subordinated foreign bonds, as well as structural bonds of foreign issuers.

Why the bills went through all the most important stages so quickly and without unnecessary problems, says one of the authors of the initiative, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market Igor Divinsky.

- The law was adopted right now for two reasons. The first is the presidential order on this matter, and I think this is the main reason. The second reason: after the key rate of the Central Bank fell and the interest on bank deposits fell, our citizens decided to retrain into investors and purchase complex products, which they probably have not read all about yet. And in order not to be misled, a regulatory law has been passed that protects these unqualified investors. There are a lot of points out there, including their interviews. The central bank must develop guidelines that it will distribute to financial institutions and banks. And a very important point for our citizens. If the bank nevertheless does something wrong, does not explain the risks, then it will be obliged to redeem this product, if it is still proved that it was not sold to only one, but to many unqualified investors, then it will be obliged to redeem it at the same price. by which he sold, from everyone to whom he sold this product.

But will there be any sense from such innovations? Experts express doubts on this score. The authors of the telegrams of the Nebrechnya channel are skeptical.

- It is unlikely that this measure is effective, because it limits the purchase of various kinds of complex products, such as a fixed-term contract, and also limits the purchase of certain types of closed-end shares, but, nevertheless, you can make risky transactions with very simple instruments - the same shares.

The authors of the Coin Post telegram channel agree with this position. It is impossible to stop the thirst for profit.

- If a person wants to part with money, he will find a way. When banks offer sophisticated financial products, they at least offer real products, and so a person will go to the Internet and give the money to an unknown fraudster who will offer him the "DOUGH" button. It is also possible that the system can be bypassed and, when such a product is sold, the investor's qualifications will be improved on the spot, without leaving the cash register.

Simple movements or how not to fall into the clutches of scammers

Gogol's catchphrase "what Russian doesn't like driving fast?" today takes on new facets. Now the "ride" is carried out on the stock charts up and down. Even the head of the relevant State Duma committee, deputy Igor Divinsky, recognizes the desire for risks:

- I believe, firstly, that our nation is the smartest and most literate, it is not for nothing that the whole world is talking about this. But at the same time, we love risks very much. Because they are used to the fact that there is always reliable protection in the face of the state.

People were surrounded by swindlers of varying degrees of impudence, and the people themselves are ready to carry their hard-earned, last savings to anyone who promises a good income, preferably without any difficulties and actions on the part of clients. We asked experts to give advice on how to act for beginners who have not fully studied a new area, but are in a hurry to place savings in a profitable pursuit of high profitability.

So, a few simple rules of what to do and what not to do, so as not to fall for the bait of charlatans.

Pay attention to formal signs

Igor Kostikov:

- A real professional must have the appropriate qualifications. This is not enough, but it is necessary. So, in order to weed out the info-gypsy, you need an educational license and an investment license from the Central Bank, if it is broker consulting. Because everything else is from the evil one. Unfortunately, saying “I’ve earned myself, and I’ll earn you money” does not work like that. It is necessary that these formal two signs be observed. Well, then look at the previous results of the person who is trying to teach you something. Moreover, these results should be real market results, you need to look at extracts from his accounts, and not what I draw here, how I earned.

Don't chase super profitability

Telegram channel Nebrehnya

- In developed countries, private investors make up from 20-25% to 50% of the population. But there is a long tradition of investing there, and most people do not engage in risky operations - they invest in conservative instruments or transfer their funds to trust management of large investment funds. Western investors, as a rule, risk surplus in the stock market, and many of ours, on the contrary, place the last thing they have there. They go into credit to buy securities, etc. This is a clear example of how to do it in no case.

Don't blindly trust big names

Igor Divinsky:

- One could speak of trust in large financial organizations if it were not for the example of the bank "Yugra", the safety and reliability of which has been talked about for years, and then such an incident - and we have hundreds of thousands of citizens who have found themselves in a difficult life situation. One could talk about the name, but there are examples when it does not work. There are examples when qualifications do not work either.

Trust only your own knowledge

Igor Divinsky:

- There are old Russian wonderful proverbs - not knowing the ford, do not poke your nose into the water. Still, you must first study the financial market, and then touch. We are increasingly raising the issue of financial literacy. We have already reached the point where financial literacy is needed for every citizen.

Coin Post:

- I immediately remember a quote from Peter Lynch: "Never invest in an idea that you cannot explain on your fingers". We add that you should not believe in investments according to the "black box" principle, they say, our fund invests in IT, cryptocurrency, space exploration and all the most promising and profitable. Always ask the question: what exactly and with what documents can you confirm this?

Konstantin Korishchenko, Head of the Department of Stock Markets and Financial Engineering, RANEPA:

- You cannot invest in what you do not understand. Whoever tells you whatever, whoever promises you whatever. Any promise of any kind of profitability from financial consultants, intermediaries, and so on is incorrect marketing. The only one who can promise interest is the bank, since it officially records in its contract what percentage it promises. Everything else is, in one form or another, not very correct shocking.

It turns out that the salvation of drowning people is primarily the work of the drowning people themselves. If a person wants to get mountains of gold without doing anything, then no Central Bank and no State Duma will save him. Therefore, there is only one way out - you need to improve your own financial literacy. Otherwise, the "poor" will have to pay with their own money for the fact that in the brave new Russian world of investments, every gopher in the field is an agronomist.