Products April 1, 2014

Alliance Benefit Group Updates Mobile App

April 1, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Alliance Benefit Group North Central States, Inc. launched a new mobile application that provides users with centralized access to retirement and health-related savings accounts.
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The free “Benefits Simplified by ABGNCS” app is available for download on iTunes and Google Play. Besides offering centralized and streamlined access to various savings accounts, the app also provides access to benefits news, an educational video library and a suite of tools and resources to help participants reach successful retirement plan outcomes.

“As the employee benefits industry becomes more and more complex, we are committed to simplifying the experience for the customers we serve,” says Wade Dykema, vice president of sales and marketing at Alliance Benefit Group North Central States, Inc.

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Alliance Benefit Group’s new mobile app is synced with the firm’s retirement and health savings platforms and automatically updates account information. The centralized app is also equipped with real-time messaging capabilities, allowing the company to push pertinent notifications directly to app users as another way to offer heightened customer service and keep clients connected and informed.

Alliance Benefit Group North Central States, Inc. is a full-service retirement plan provider and benefits administrator with clients in 48 states.

The app can be downloaded by following this link. More information on Alliance Benefit Group is at www.abgncs.com/.

Administration April 1, 2014

Pension Fund Says Hedge Fund Manager Duped Investors

April 1, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) pension fund claims New York investment manager Alphonse Fletcher Jr. defrauded investors of $50 million.
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Fletcher is being sued by the MBTA Retirement Fund and some of his own hedge funds on fraud accusations, according to a news report from The Boston Globe. The lawsuit, filed in New York, accuses Fletcher Asset Management and other parties of conducting a “long-running fraud” in which they misused client money for their own benefit, inappropriately took inflated management fees, and overstated the value of assets.

The Boston Globe reports the MBTA pension fund invested $25 million with Fletcher in 2007 on the advice of the pension fund’s former executive director, Karl White. White pitched the investment to the pension fund nine months after he had resigned from the MBTA to work for Fletcher.

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Fletcher has told regulators his firm managed assets of $550 million. But the true figure “was always far less, as can be seen now, when honest and accurate valuations are applied,’’ according to case documents.

Plaintiffs in the case include the MBTA fund, the Fletcher Fixed Income Alpha Fund, and three other Fletcher entities. They are seeking $50 million, as well as management and attorney’s fees and interest. The funds suing Fletcher are considered separate legal entities, so they have the right to sue to recoup money for their investors, the news report says.

The lawsuit is being pursued by the bankruptcy trustee, Richard Davis, the person responsible for managing claims by creditors. The Boston Globe report suggests Davis anticipates further lawsuits to emerge in the coming months.

Most of Fletcher’s hedge funds have been in bankruptcy since 2012, court documents and news reports show. The Boston Globe reports the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently confirmed a plan to liquidate one of the entities, Fletcher International Ltd. This latest lawsuit followed from that plan, the news report says.

Though the MBTA and three Louisiana pension funds are all pursuing Fletcher to recoup funds, it is unclear how much money he has (see “La. Pension Funds Petition for Liquidation of Hedge Fund”). The troubles of in Fletcher’s business came to light in 2011, when he sued fellow owners at the Dakota building in Manhattan for discrimination when they refused to let him buy a fifth apartment there, The Boston Globe reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI have been investigating Fletcher Asset Management. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is investigating the MBTA pension fund over the transaction. She also urged the fund’s board to be more transparent in its dealings.

In a statement, the MBTA pension fund acknowledged the lawsuit but declined to comment further, according to the news report. In January, the pension fund also sued the auditor Grant Thornton in Chicago, Quantal, and another auditor, EisnerAmper of New York, in the Fletcher matter, according to the news report.

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