When are money management fees too much? It is hard to imagine that any investor who has sought the guidance of professional financial advisors has not asked himself or herself this question at least once – most likely more. In the case of managed futures, the CFTC is asking that question for investors right now. Following an article in Bloomberg Magazine in the Fall of last year, 2013, the CFTC has launched a probe in to the fees charged by those who manage the more than $300 billion in the managed futures market.
According to the Bloomberg report, investors in 63 managed futures funds paid out 89% of the $11.51 billion in gains from managed futures investors in the form of fees, commissions and expenses from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2012 – more than $10.2 billion.
Bloomberg quoted Mr. Bart Chilton, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as saying:
“”The big news here is, the fees are so outlandish, they can actually wipe out all the profits . . . We absolutely need to do a better job of letting consumers know in plain English what’s going on. . . Those numbers tell a story. It’s astounding.”
For example, Spectrum Technical LP, run by Morgan Stanley, reportedly managed more than $1 billion, making gross profits of $490.3 million. Apparently, what seemed like a great gain for investors shockingly became a loss. It seems that all $490.3 million was eaten up in fees, which totaled $498.7 million – meaning an $8+ million loss for investors. However those charging the fees pocketed nearly half-a-billion dollars over the same time frame. Over ten years, Bloomberg reported that twenty nine Citigroup and Morgan Stanley funds charged over $1.5 billion in fees to investors.
One might ask, “Why would anyone invest in a fund where they could potentially lose money, and where an overwhelming majority of any gains would be eaten up by fees?” Many are introduced to managed futures by their broker or financial advisor. These funds are typically sold as an alternative to traditional investments such as stocks and bonds and as a way to further diversify a portfolio. However, many investors might not realize that managed futures funds reportedly pay commissions to the selling broker that can be as high as 4% of total assets invested annually. Total costs and fees to the investor can run as high as 9% of total assets invested per year.
Even more shocking misleading marketing information that is allegedly used to sell managed futures to investors. According to the Bloomberg report, charts produced by BarclayHedge (not related to Barclays PLC) show astonishing gains in the managed futures market to the tune of 29 fold growth in some cases. However, BarclayHedge reportedly only uses information volunteered by managed-futures traders, and the firm does not include the fees charged to investors in its calculations. Therefore, given the exorbitant fees associated with these funds, when shown to investors, these charts can be grossly misleading.
Ultimately, the sale of any security, including managed futures fund, to any investor through misrepresentations or omissions is not ok. Nor is it ok for a broker or financial advisor to solicit unsuitable investments to their customer solely to reap a high commission payout for himself or herself.
Any investor who believes that they have lost money as a result of a misrepresentation, omission or unsuitable solicitation may be able to recover some or all of their losses. The attorneys at Malecki Law are experienced in representing investors. For a free consultation, contact us.