TWO investors, who between them invested over £600,000 with Taylor Asset Managers, said last night they had virtually no hope of getting their money back.

The investors, who asked not to be named, said they were devastated and that the company's managing director, Mr Tony Taylor, who is believed to be out of the country, always dealt with them personally.

One investor, who runs a small business in the midlands with her husband, said that their entire life savings appeared to be gone. She said 20 years' savings had been invested with Mr Taylor.

In the early years, they got good returns on their investment, but after the stock market crash of 1987, "it began to slow down".

Whenever they would ask Mr Taylor about their investment - at one stage they became worried after Gay Byrne and others lost money they had invested with accountant Mr Russell Murphy - Mr Taylor would "flash a bond for £1 million across the table".

She said: "We thought we had a blue chip investment.

Mr Taylor was always plausible and charming, "very eloquent" said the investor. "He was like our friend he called to the house several times and always dealt with us personally, always returned our calls."

However, Mr Taylor seemed to be under pressure recently. When the couple began asking questions about their investments recently, he fobbed them off. "In recent times it had been getting harder and harder to get answers from him," said the investor.

The money the couple had asked him to invest was to be used partly as a retirement fall back and to help various family members to set up homes.

Close to tears, the investor firmly believes that Mr Taylor has disappeared. "We worked six and seven days a week, and lived a simple life," she said. "Now all our savings are gone and we have to start all over again.

Another businessman who invested around £200,000 in Taylor Asset Managers said last night he had little hope of getting his money back and, like the others, fears the effect the affair will have on his family as it unravels.

The man employs more than 30 people and invested around £200,000 seven years ago. Although he never took dividends, he was assured by Mr Taylor that the lump sum was getting good returns and was now worth around £330,000.

He said Mr Taylor was very convincing and showed him documents every time he asked, purporting to show how well his investments were performing. I believed him, said the investor. "There was no reason not to, he was very professional.

At first he did not question the investments any further. "It's not like buying a bicycle that you can see, nor is it not put there in front of you for you to count."

In his early forties, he has a young family and feels he worked very hard for this money. It was money he felt was there for use at a later stage, perhaps for his business, for raising the family or for retirement purposes. Like the other investors, he began to get concerned about his investments recently. He had "heard rumblings" and quizzed Mr Taylor about the monies.

Mr Taylor did not give him satisfactory answers and he took the matter further.

He feels sore and let down. He believed that the insurance business was regulated.

Asked why he invested with Taylor, he said, at the time, he was offering excellent returns and the banks and other large institutions didn't seem to care about investors like him.