MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
|
|
MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Peregrine Scandal Claims a Mutual Fund The Peregrine Financial Group scandal has spread all the way to the mutual fund world. An asset management company indirectly owned by Peregrine CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr., who regulators allege stole hundreds of millions from his clients, has decided to shut down its only mutual fund, the Peregrine Gold Silver Alpha Strategy Fund. The fund, managed by Chicago-based Peregrine Capital Advisors, launched in November 2011 as part of the Northern Lights Fund Trust, a mutual fund trust offered by Gemini Fund Services. The Peregrine mutual fund never caught on with investors, attracting only $1.1 million as of the end of April. Neither Peregrine Capital Advisors nor representatives for Northern Lights responded to MFWire's requests for comment. Fund officials filed to shut down the fund on July 11, the day after regulators sued Peregrine Financial Group, alleging that Wasendorf misappropriated over $200 million in client money. Bloomberg reported that on July 9, police found Wasendorf in his car in front of his firm's Cedar Falls, Iowa office, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Investigators say that there was a signed statement found with Wasendorf in which he admitted that he's been stealing his clients' money for over 20 years. The Peregrine Gold SIlver Alpha Fund was PMed by Neil Aslin, chairman of Peregrin Capital Advisors, and two managing directors at Peregrine Asset Management, John Courtright and Stephen Luongo. The fund is down 2.58 percent on the year, according to Morningstar. FINRA BrokerCheck lists both Wasendorf and Aslin as having been registered from 2006 through 2009 with Brewer Financial Services, a Chicago-based shop whose principals were expelled from FINRA membership. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=40653 Copyright 2012, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |