Please be alert to unregulated investment scams such as the one reported here , where a £6m film fund was shut down by the High Court. Ensure you do plenty of research before committing to an investment, especially if the returns are high. 

 
Even regulated firms sometimes need a close eye, it was recently reported that Prudential were ruled against by the Financial Ombudsman Services when the company paid less than they should have for an annuity. 

So the moral is that it pays for all investors to be careful, regardless of the type of investment.