Sick of hearing about Tea Party Protests -- about Taxes going down?
Here's some "Protest News" that is worth knowing about ...
Oregon sues fund company for college savings losses
AP Executive Morning Briefing - April 14, 2009
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — State officials are seeking $36.2 million in damages from OppenheimerFunds Inc., which managed a fund responsible for steep losses in the Oregon College Savings Plan. Officials said in a statement Monday that risky, "hedge-fund like" investments cost the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund 36 percent of its value last year — and 10 percent more so far this year.
(emphasis added)
http://www.google.com/...
Hopefully this is the beginning of some REAL Accountability, for all those Wall Streets Wizards, who don't think twice, about gambling away YOUR Life Savings... Some Investments, (like Pensions and College Savings) are SUPPOSE to avoid Risk:
Oregon Sues Over Risks Taken In Its '529' Fund
By SHEFALI ANAND and CRAIG KARMIN - WSJ - April 14, 2009
On Monday, Oregon sued the firm for losses of $36 million incurred by participants in the Oregon College Savings Plan, which Oppenheimer manages. The accounts, known as "529" plans, are a way for individuals to save tax-free for college expenses.
...
Oregon charges that Oppenheimer Core Bond fund, which was in the state's 529-plan options billed as "conservative," became significantly more risky starting in late 2007 or early 2008. The fund lost 36% of its value in 2008, but its benchmark index, the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index, rose 5.2%.
"The Core Bond Fund was no longer a plain bond fund," the complaint says. "It had become a hedge-fund like investment fund that took extreme risks."
The complaint says the fund veered into credit-default swaps and other derivatives, which the state called "high-risk bets that were plainly inappropriate for those saving for college."
(emphasis added)
http://online.wsj.com/...
Way to go Oregon!
If Wall Street Bankers, actually had to PAY for their Stupidity, well just maybe they'd be LESS Stupid, with your Money! Derivative bets are NO way to invest for the Future.
Well it good to see that Oregon is not alone in its outrage:
At least four other states had hired Oppenheimer to manage parts of their college-savings plans, including Texas, New Mexico, Illinois and Maine.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Perhaps these States are only taking their cue from the US Labor Department, which filed a similar suit against an investment house, late last year:
U.S. Labor Department sues California investment advisor and executives to recover losses and hidden fees charged to employee benefit plans
October 24, 2008
San Francisco -- The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Zenith Capital LLC of Santa Rosa, California, and its executives for allegedly investing the assets of 13 retirement plan clients in the hedge fund Global Money Management LP while receiving undisclosed incentive fees from the hedge fund's sponsor and manager.
The lawsuit alleges that Zenith Capital and executives Rick Lane Tasker, Michael Gregory Smith and Martel Jed Cooper violated their fiduciary obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
...
The Labor Department's suit seeks a court order requiring the defendants to restore all losses owed to the plans, requiring them to undo any transactions prohibited by law ...
(emphasis added)
http://www.dol.gov/...
Interesting ... Investment Firms, must follow the Law ... Hmmmm?
What Does Employee Retirement Income Security Act - ERISA Mean?
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) protects the retirement assets of Americans by implementing rules that qualified plans must follow to ensure that plan fiduciaries do not misuse plan assets.
http://www.investopedia.com/...
Accountability must begin somewhere, how about with holding Big Banks to their "legal" Fiduciary Responsibility?
If they fail to respect, and protect, our Life Savings and Pension Funds, WHY should we continue to respect, and protect them?
"Too big to Fail", may mean "Too big to exist" ??
