Germanys Allianz has agreed to pay about $6 billion and its U.S. asset management unit will plead guilty to fraud after a group of its multibillion investment funds collapsed amid market turmoil triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The portfolio managers then used manipulated numbers to justify exorbitant fees to line their own pockets to the tune of $550 million between 2014 and 2020. Gregoire Tournant, 55, Trevor Taylor, 50, and Stephen Bond-Nelson, 51, all were charged with a massive fraudulent scheme, as described in an SEC press release. STAY CONNECTED But when the pandemic hit, everything went haywire. Automobile Diminished Value: Is THAT Covered. At the center of the debacle is Greg Tournant, 55, an equity-options whiz and one-time McKinsey & Co. consultant. 371 (Count One), Securities fraud, 15 U.S.C. Instead of being part of the companys planned expansion to waterfront offices, Frenkel ended up helping liquidate the business. Id like to thank and commend our staff for their excellent forensic work that uncovered this fraud and held the wrongdoers accountable.". The scheme alleged was an egregious, long-running and extensive fraud that went undetected for years. Bond-Nelson declined to comment. Investors were told the funds employed options that included hedges to protect against market crashes, but prosecutors said fund managers repeatedly failed to buy those hedges. Defendants reduced losses under a market crash scenario in one risk report sent to investors from negative 42.1505489755747% to negative 4.1505489755747% -- by simply dropping the single digit 2. 2735 0 obj Bloomberg Intelligence analysts predicted Feb. 18 that the insurers 3.7 billion euro provision wont likely be sufficient and that its legal costs might approach $6 billion. "No compliance system is perfect, but the controls at AGI didn't even stand a chance," Williams said. Postal Inspection Service also announced today a plea agreement (the agreement) pursuant to which AGI will plead guilty to securities fraud in connection with this fraudulent scheme, and pay more than $3 billion in restitution to the victims of this fraud, pay a criminal fine of approximately $2.3 billion, and forfeit approximately $463 million to the government. What goes up, must come down unless a portfolio manager simply fudges the numbers, sometimes simultaneously with comically simple math and a dizzying number of decimals. Behind Allianzs $4B Fund Blowup, Red Flags and Fat Fees, Portfolio > Alternative Investments > Hedge Funds, By n=t gM Allianz agreed to pay more than $6 billion in a settlement with U.S. authorities in May, and the German company's U.S. asset management unit pleaded guilty to securities fraud. Tournant and Taylor declined to comment. Inbounds slide triggered at Snowmass; no one believed to be caught, FAA official: Changes needed at Aspen airport, Roaring Fork Valley Republican aims to unseat Boebert in primary, Mother Lode commercial space sells for $7M, Yogis and city of Aspen sign on the dotted line. Get the insurance industry's trusted newsletter, Your email address will not be published. Other corporations should take note that the results here are driven in part by the fact that this company failed to self-report their crimes. Disaster struck in 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers rocked global finance, freezing up markets and with them, Innovative Options trades. Wake up to today's headlines in your inbox. Instead of being part of the companys planned expansion to waterfront offices, Frenkel ended up helping liquidate the business. Postal Inspection Service and the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York investigated this case. Once with more than $11 billion of assets under management, the Structured Alpha funds lost more than $7 billion as COVID-19 roiled markets in February and March 2020. Rare Guilty Plea After the COVID-19 market crash of March 2020 exposed the fraudulent scheme, the strategy lost billions of dollars as a result of AGI US and the portfolio managers misconduct. Other corporations should take note that the results here are driven in part by the fact that this company failed to self-report their crimes. surge" that had occurred in February 2018, Allianz said that "Structured Alpha's option portfolio is positioned for a strong improvement in the event of another February 2018-type move." Unfortunately for ATRS, Allianz departed from the Alpha Funds' investment mandate and disregarded the risk management protocols it was required to . Gregoire Tournant, the former chief investment officer who created the now-defunct Structured Alpha Funds, accused the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell of helping Allianz, also a client, make him. All of the reward, very little risk. While they were able to solicit over $11 billion in investments by the end of 2019 and earn over $550 million in fees as a result of their lies, they lost over $5 billion in investor funds when the market volatility of March 2020 exposed the true risk of their products," said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SECs Division of Enforcement. Investors allege they lost billions of dollars as a result of the collapse of Allianz's Structured Alpha hedge funds, which also prompted probes by U.S. regulators. And when the storm came in March 2020, when the COVID-19 crash hit, these investors got soaked and lost billions. In the finger-pointing that followed, some big investors accused the professional consultants they had hired to vet Structured Alpha of ignoring red flags and failing to understand what the funds were doing, according to lawsuits. Taylor pleaded guilty pursuant to an information before U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on March 8. Perfect Sunday reading. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Greg looks forward to vigorouslydefending himself in Court against these charges., Allianz told to pay $6bn after SEC charges three execs with fraud over Structured Alpha funds scandal. Allianz is one of the worlds largest financial services companies and one of the worlds largest insurance companies. July 21 Allianz publishes a paper saying that losses were not the result of any failure in the portfolios investment strategy or risk management processes. It has since been removed from the web. Pensions funds for so many retirees, religious organizations and essential workers from laborers in Alaska, to teachers in Arkansas, to bus drivers and subway conductors here in New York City invested with AGI because they were promised a relatively safe investment with strict risk controls. Deep-pocketed investors piled in. The SEC's complaint, filed in the federal district court in Manhattan, alleges that Structured Alpha's Lead Portfolio Manager, Gregoire P. Tournant, orchestrated the multi-year scheme to mislead investors who invested approximately $11 billion in Structured Alpha, and paid the defendants over $550 million in fees. The trade proved disastrous for the Allianz fund managers when the index tanked in late February, and global markets experienced their largest single-week declines since the height of the 2008 financial crisis, the board claimed. Allianz was confident enough in Tournants team that it let them charge a performance fee alone of 25% to 30% of net capital appreciation above a benchmark. The over-the-counter spreads were so great, they couldnt close positions, said Frenkel, who was chief compliance officer for Innovative Options. Allianz Global Investors also failed to keep watch over Tournant, the New York prosecutors said, as they claimed the firm was asleep on the beat while the fund manager and his co-conspirators lined their own pockets by misleading pension funds. The funds writedown will put a costly end to what Allianz once described as a third way for investors to harvest sustainable alpha.. Structured Alphas troubles continued after his departure. The funds once had more than $11 billion of assets under management, but lost more than $7 billion as COVID-19 roiled markets in February and March 2020. %PDF-1.5 <>stream Information is just a click away. Reports 2021 profit was the lowest since 2013. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. It did so by selling options that would pay out for the purchasers, and hurt Structured Alpha, if the S&P 500 plunged, the pension said. These settlements are subject to court approval. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. Thank you! Neil Weinberg, Alex Wittenberg and Will Louch, Analysis <>stream The insurer warned last month that ongoing probes by the Justice Department and SEC are at a sensitive stage and it couldnt yet predict the final price tag from regulatory settlements and private litigation. The Aspen Daily News has chronicled Tournants real estate dealings with Snowmass Club condominium properties in, Tournant faces charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice charges. :7iH#+w|R42>/.Y/V_^h"XX>.2XGCcp. Both are cooperating with the government. Williams said the fine was significantly reduced because of Allianz's compensation to investors. Those funds ultimately collapsed, leading to billions of dollars of investor losses. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission have opened investigations. They face long prison terms but could get far less time for their cooperation. Instead of employing the usual formula for hedge-fund fees the "2 and. Four billion dollars wrong so far, with outside estimates that it could grow much larger. As a consequence of the guilty plea, AGI US is automatically and immediately disqualified from providing advisory services to U.S.-registered investment funds for the next 10 years, and will exit the business of conducting these fund services, the SEC press release explains. Valuation, Fundamentals, Momentum: The Case for Mid-Cap Value Stocks, Bond Fund Yields: What Investors Need to Know, How to Build Your Ultimate Marketing Plan. Catch up on the week's most-read stories. AGI US admitted that its conduct violated the federal securities laws and agreed to a cease-and-desist order, a censure and payment of $315.2 million in disgorgement, $34 million in prejudgment interest, and a $675 million civil penalty, a portion of which will be distributed to certain investors, with the amount of disgorgement and prejudgment interest deemed satisfied by amounts it paid to the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an integrated, global resolution. Soon, he decided to cooperate and assist the SEC staff in understanding the Structured Alpha fraud, according to the agency complaint. Allianz, which has denied wrongdoing, said earlier this month that independent advisers its hired to dig into what happened have thus far found no breaches of duty by the insurers management board. Investor lawsuits and settlements have piled up. Covers German finance with a focus on big banks, insurance companies, regulation and financial crime, previous experience at the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in Europe and Asia. In addition, the complaint seeks an officer and director bar against Tournant. While Mr Tournants funds might have sounded too good to be true, Allianz Global Investors US assured clients that its risk-management system had three lines of defence. Allianz on Tuesday announced plans to sell the bulk of the US piece of its Allianz Global Investors business to Voya Financial. Arkansas Structured Alpha holdings reach a market value of $1.6 billion at the end of 2019, a significant portion of the $18.3 billion fund. Mr Bond-Nelson lied repeatedly to SEC investigators during his testimony in May last year before taking a bathroom break and not returning. They were marketed in particular to typically conservative U.S. pension funds, from those . He was at the top of the class, and his work was excellent in all respects. Allianz, which also owns bond powerhouse Pacific Investment Management Co., has resolved some of its legal woes, including a February settlement with a majority of investors for undisclosed terms. The demise of the Structured Alpha funds is just the latest illustration of the outsized damage an obscure trading operation can wreak on an A-list financial institution. Allianz, which has denied wrongdoing, said earlier this month that independent advisers its hired to dig into what happened have thus far found no breaches of duty by the insurers management board. More than 100 institutional investors, representing more than 100,000 individuals, were victims of this scheme. We are shocked by the actions of Greg Tournant and his former colleagues.. Pensions funds for so many retirees, religious organizations and essential workers from laborers in Alaska, to teachers in Arkansas, to bus drivers and subway conductors here in New York City invested with AGI because they were promised a relatively safe investment with strict risk controls. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Grocery Chain Accuses Chubb of Lowballing, Fla. 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New York City | He was a hedge fund manager supposedly under the watchful eye of a master cop an Allianz unit that policed his every move. Investors are also told chief fund manager Tournant had been ill for weeks, according to lawsuits. Investor lawsuits and settlements have piled up. While the losses are regrettable, they are not the result of any crime. Essentially, the Structured Alpha fund was sold as a bill of goods that would expose investors to the benefits of the S&P 500 index while protecting them from any sort of market crash by. NEW YORK/MUNICH, May 17 (Reuters) - Germany's Allianz SE (ALVG.DE) agreed to pay more than $6 billion and its U.S. asset management unit pleaded guilty to criminal securities fraud over the collapse of a group of investment funds early in the COVID-19 pandemic. French-American citizen Gregoire Tournant earned $60m from his role as Chief Investment Officer at Allianz, as he lied to investors and misled them as to the risk of investing in the Structured Alpha funds. To avoid disruptions to these funds and for the protection of the fund investors, the SEC will allow a brief transition period solely to transition these services to another investment adviser. Unfortunately, weve seen a recent string of cases in which derivatives and complex products have harmed investors across market sectors. That change was not disclosed to investors, prosecutors allege. For the second time in under a month, the Department has brought charges in connection with a sophisticated Wall Street scheme that cost victims billions of dollars. By December 2019, Structured Alpha had grown to more than $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Taylor and Bond-Nelson also agreed to associational and penny stock bars. Washington D.C., May 17, 2022 . 78j(b) & 78ff (Count Two), Gregoire Tournant, Chief Investment Officer of Allianz Global Investors U.S.s Structured Products Group, and Two Others Charged with Fraud Offenses, Securities, Commodities, & Investment Fraud. Sept. 10 Reuters reports that the DOJ was looking at possible misconduct by fund managers and misrepresentation of risk to investors. At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan said more than 100,000 investors were harmed, and that while American prosecutors rarely bring criminal charges against companies it was "the right thing to do. x+ | And when the storm came in March 2020, when the COVID-19 crash hit, these investors got soaked and lost billions. Careers have been upended. Official websites use .gov These institutional investors included, among others, pension funds for teachers in Arkansas, laborers in Alaska, bus drivers and subway conductors in New York City, as well as religious organizations, engineers, and other individuals, universities and charitable organizations across the United States. All these months later, the big question remains: How could a few obscure money managers people on no ones list of hedge-fund luminaries blow such a huge hole in Allianz, which traces its history to the days of Bismarck? Mr Tournant, 55, now faces charges that are upending his career and could send him to prison for a decade or more if he is convicted. As part of the parallel criminal proceeding, AGI US, Taylor and Bond-Nelson have agreed to guilty pleas. As a consequence of the guilty plea, AGI US is automatically and immediately disqualified from providing advisory services to US registered investment funds for the next ten years, and will exit the business of conducting these fund services. The star portfolio manager behind Allianz Structured Alpha funds faces decades in prison after he traded off Allianz good reputation to defraud investors of billions, US prosecutors have said. 1 auto market, Exclusive: Airbus advises airlines of 2024 delays, keeps output goals, Polestar to start production in South Carolina from 2024, says CEO, C.Suisse to move forward Q1 earnings, report before UBS, Norway wealth fund welcomes government request on unlisted equities. Allianz spokesman John Wallace said Mr Tournant and his two lieutenants engaged in isolated but serious wrongdoing that led the company to pay billions of dollars in settlements. Allianz in Februarysetaside $4.1 billion for the disaster, but the final reckoning is still due and could cost plenty more. Tournant and Taylor prospered at Allianz during the long bull market that followed the Great Recession. ", Investors "were promised a relatively safe investment with strict risk controls designed to weather a sudden storm, like a massive collapse in the stock market," he said. A spokesman declined to comment. Another investor, the board of a pension fund run by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, filed a lawsuit in 2020 that purported to identify what went wrong. Much of this historic fraud was made possible because AGIs control environment was not designed to verify that Tournant and his co-conspirators were telling investors the truth. The over-the-counter spreads were so great, they couldnt close positions, said Frenkel, who was chief compliance officer for Innovative Options. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil action today. In March 2020, following the onset of market dislocations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the funds lost in excess of $7 billion in market value, including over $3.2 billion in principal, faced margin calls and redemption requests, and ultimately were shut down. Deep-pocketed investors piled in. The Arkansas pension fund makes an initial investment in Allianzs Structured Alpha funds. Japan's Nissan Motor on Tuesday unveiled a new electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV) at the Shanghai auto show as it pledged its commitment to the Chinese auto market, which it said was likely to continue to pioneer the rise of electric cars. A dual U.S.-French citizen, he arrived at Allianz Global Investors in the early 2000s by way of Oppenheimer Capital. Allianz's guilty plea carries a 10-year ban on Allianz Global Investors' providing advisory services to U.S.-registered investment funds. "Those promises were lies. Today is the day for accountability.". Former colleagues have turned on him, as has Allianz. L@IW$',Bt^[J[>}+$"j|\,/cmhyqyRdY'yD,1. R&qr`$."Eb+[#iw}|`9 pT(G!t'm In early March of 2020, as he was grappling with the pandemics effect on his funds, Tournant went on medical leave for undisclosed reasons, the person said. Those investors roughly 114 AGI clients who bought into the Structured Alpha funds, worth $11 billion at its peak represented the pension funds of teachers, bus drivers, subway conductors and clergy members and other charity workers across the country, according to the SEC complaint. Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Be the first to know what's happening as it's happening. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Mr Tournant, the chief investment officer at Miami-based Structured Alpha, spent years "smoothing" performance data, lying about hedges against market downturns, and pretending risk managers. And those lower strike prices provided less protection to investors in the event of a short-term market drop.. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Allianz Global Investors US pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and agreed to pay about $US6 billion to resolve the case. Regulators said the misconduct included when Tournant and Bond-Nelson altered more than 75 risk reports before sending them to investors. Investors have also filed more than two dozen lawsuits against Allianz over the Structured Alpha funds. Greg Tournant, Stephen Bond-Nelson and Trevor Taylor no longer work for AllianzGI, a spokesperson has confirmed to Citywire Selector. Feb. 18 Allianz announces bonus cuts for its CEO and board, and a settlement with a vast majority of investors. Copyright 2023 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Allianz Fires 2 Asset Managers Who Ran Group of Collapsed Investment Funds, Allianz Sets Aside $4.2B to Handle Probes, Lawsuits After Collapse of Investment Funds, NFL Prospect Injured in Fatal Car Crash in Alabama, Global Insured Losses Estimated at $15B in Q1, With Economic Price Tag of $63B: Aon, Miami Homeowner Charged with Defrauding Citizens by Claiming Old Damage, Florida Roofing Company Owners Plead Guilty to More Than $1M in Tax Evasion. Additional reporting by Luc Cohen in New York While Allianz made no secret of this arrangement, angry clients would later claim it was a recipe for bigger risks. For instance, say an investment fund actually performs with a -30.8197078741882% return, but the investor is told that the actual number is -15.4098539370941882% as Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC told its investors in a month-end March 2018 income deposit security, or IDS, report. They were marketed in particular to typically conservative U.S. pension funds, from those . Two of his colleagues have worked with him since the group's founding. May 11 Allianz sets aside another 1.9 billion euros to settle litigation and any fines from U.S. regulators. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. Allianz in February set aside $4.1 billion for the disaster, but the final reckoning is still due and could cost plenty more. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Careers have been upended. endstream Feb. 3 Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, warns CNBC viewers not to buy the dip because the coronavirus crisis was without precedent. Gregoire Tournant, the former chief investment officer who created and oversaw the now-defunct Structured Alpha funds, was also indicted for fraud, conspiracy and obstruction, while two other. Instead of employing the usual formula for hedge-fund fees the 2 and 20 mix of management charges and a cut of profits they were compensated for one thing alone: performance. 371 (Count One), United States v. Stephen Bond-Nelson, 22 Cr. Tournant, with Allianz Global Investors since 2002, founded the so-called Structured Alpha funds in 2005. Investing in Structured Alpha, Mr Tournant assured investors, was very, very different than if I had my own hedge fund firm where in some form or fashion I can overrule just about anything. Postal Inspection Service. March 25 Allianz announces the liquidation of two hard-hit funds. "Greg Tournant has been unfairly targeted [in a] meritless and ill-considered attempt by the government to criminalize the impact of the unprecedented, COVID-induced market dislocation," the lawyers said in a joint statement. French-American citizen Gregoire Tournant earned $60m from his role as Chief Investment Officer at Allianz, as he lied to investors and misled them as to the risk of investing in the Structured. At the same time, the firm has argued that its clients were sophisticated investors who knew what they were getting into. The U.S.-French citizen appeared briefly in Denver federal court, and was released after agreeing to post a $20 million bond. Instead of employing the usual formula for hedge-fund fees the "2 and. But inside Allianz SE, where a handful of hedge fund managers claimed they could do just that, few grasped how wrong that dream could go. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. The insurer warned last month that ongoing probes by the Justice Department and SEC are at a sensitive stage and it couldnt yet predict the final price tag from regulatory settlements and private litigation. By the end of March, Allianz announced it was liquidating two Structured Alpha funds. Get Free Insurance Industry News Updates Delivered to Your Email! Aug. 1 Allianz publicly discloses the DOJ investigation and says it could take a financial hit. Allianz is still grappling with the fallout. The other two portfolio managers - Stephen Bond-Nelson, 51, of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey; and Trevor Taylor, 49, of Miami - agreed to plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy, and cooperate with prosecutors. Why AI tools, like GPT, are now at the frontline of the Citys talent war? 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