An ex-pat investor now living in Spain fears he has lost thousands of pounds in funds managed in the Isle of Man.

The investor, who wants to be known only as John, retired to the Costa Del Sol with is wife 16 years ago.

They invested £50,000 in New Earth in 2009 - managed by the Premier Group IoM - and were told the value had risen to £72,000 in 2013.

John tried to redeem the shares but was refused and told that another company was buying into the fund.

He said: ’The fund manager kept telling me things were positive in New Earth.’

But then in June last year, he learned that New Earth was going into liquidation.

Premier Group itself has gone into voluntary liquidation.

The couple had also invested £25,000 in teak plantations in Brazil with another island-registered fund Quadris, then managed by Blue Sea International.

An advisor has now been appointed by the Financial Services Authority to assume control of Quadris’s affairs.

Last year, John found out that his Malaga-based independent financial advisor was not regulated either in Spain or the UK.

He said: ’We’ve been in touch with the FSA but they just say we’ve been badly advised. They say we should not have been put into these funds as they are high risk.

’I think people need to be warned about investing in the Isle of Man.’

The FSA has applied to put another fund managed by the Premier Group into liquidation - the Eco-Resources Fund.