Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Madoff's Ponzi scheme Claims First Victim

It seems that the founder of a hedge fund called Access International Advisors Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet killed himself after trying his best to get his clients money back. The bad part is that it looks like Access put almost all its faith (and cash) on Madoff.

Access said in a Dec. 12 letter to clients that funds including its LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection invested solely with Madoff’s eponymous investment firm. The fund had $1.4 billion in assets as of Nov. 17, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Access says it carries out “extensive” due diligence on the funds to which it allocates money, a process that can take as long as six months and cost $100,000. It also hires private investigators to run “extensive background checks” on fund managers, including searches on professional credentials, regulatory filings and bankruptcy, according to marketing documents dated September.

I guess Madoff fooled those private investigators and all of the checks and balances that Access was able to do. I think it might have been a good idea to diversify this fund since it would have resulted in people losing far less money then they did. Instead, La Villehuchet put all of his faith in Madoff and was strait-up robbed. That is why diversification is important whether you are a beginning investor or a billionaire hedge fund guy.

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