[2] When Hungary was invaded by Nazi Germany in March 1944, Stern along with his family, escaped on the Kastner train, which carried 1,684 Jews to safety in Switzerland.
Initially, only pension funds and charities were permitted to purchase units in these trusts, but these regulations were relaxed under the leadership of Prime Minister Edward Heath who came to power in 1970, after which time the general public could also invest via insurance companies.
[4] As a direct consequence of Nation Life's failure, the 1975 Policyholders' Protection Act was introduced, which mandates investors' insurance be paid for by a one per cent levy on investment premiums.
[3][4] He was subsequently banned from serving as a company director for twelve years in April 2000, following the emergence of evidence that he had appropriated £1.5 million from the business despite his prior knowledge that it was on the brink of failure.
[11][2] In 2000, Stern was living in a "£4m six-bedroom mansion" in West Heath Avenue, Hampstead, London, owned another home in Jerusalem, and a villa in the south of France.