Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway often escaped trouble on the field. But in 2010, Elway and a business partner invested $15 million with a hedge-fund manager who was arrested on charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme, The Denver Post reported. Elway lost $3 million.
Athletes can fall victim to Ponzi schemes if they do a poor job vetting the people who are handling their investments, says Michael Chasnoff, chief executive of Truepoint Inc., a wealth management company in Cincinnati.
Athletes often think they can trust the person investing their money if he or she was recommended by someone the athlete respects.
Investors have to perform their own due diligence no matter how much they trust the person who recommends an investment adviser, Chasnoff says.
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors offers a questionnaire to help investors interview potential advisers. Before signing on, an investor should also contact the adviser’s other clients as a reference.
Look for advisers who are known in the community and give back to the community through charities or nonprofit groups. “They are usually very professional, high-integrity people,” Chasnoff says.
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2012年2月1日星期三
Cohen Said to Plan Donating Gains From SAC Spinout as Investors Flag Risk
Steven A. Cohen plans to donate to charity any profits he makes from the former private-equity arm of the SAC Capital Advisors LP hedge fund, according to three investors.
Some limited partners and prospective investors in Siris Capital Group LLC have expressed concern that the New York-based spinout’s ties with Cohen left it vulnerable to “headline risk,” or negative news, the people said. Two former employees of SAC Capital have pleaded guilty to insider trading in the U.S. government’s five-year probe of hedge funds, and last month a technology analyst at one of the $14 billion firm’s units was accused of the crime.
Prior to the close of the first fundraising stage in September, Cohen decided against investing in the Siris fund, whose general partners are seeking $400 million, the people said. Cohen also decided to hand over his cut of future profits to charity, according to the investors. Siris had agreed at the time of the spinout to give Cohen 20 percent of its slice of profits, or carried interest, from the first fund, the investors said.
Frank Baker, co-founder of Siris, declined to comment, as did Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for SAC Capital at Sard Verbinnen & Co. No allegations of wrongdoing have been levied against Cohen or SAC.
Public pension plans have been sensitive to any bad press around investments they make.
“The nightmare scenario for any public pension manager is getting a call from a board member one morning because a negative story involving a fund in their portfolio is on page one,” said Jake Elmhirst, a managing director at UBS Investment Bank in New York.
Cohen’s decision not to invest in the fund has alleviated concerns about potential headline risk, one of the people said. Another possible limited partner said his investment firm wouldn’t be troubled if Cohen’s had participated in the fund because that would represent a “validation” of the Siris team.
At SAC, Cohen acted as the sole backer of deals by the private-capital group and helped Siris get started.
Siris gathered $125 million in the first phase of fundraising, according to one investor. Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois committed $45 million in August.
Siris was founded by Baker, Peter Berger and Jeffrey Hendren, who have worked together for more than a decade. They were colleagues at private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC before joining SAC Capital in 2007.
SAC’s private-capital group invested in Cosmos Bank Taiwan (2837), network infrastructure company Airvana and MedQuist Holdings. The deals have produced an average of about two times invested capital, according to another person familiar with Siris.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sabrina Willmer in New York at swillmer2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
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Some limited partners and prospective investors in Siris Capital Group LLC have expressed concern that the New York-based spinout’s ties with Cohen left it vulnerable to “headline risk,” or negative news, the people said. Two former employees of SAC Capital have pleaded guilty to insider trading in the U.S. government’s five-year probe of hedge funds, and last month a technology analyst at one of the $14 billion firm’s units was accused of the crime.
Prior to the close of the first fundraising stage in September, Cohen decided against investing in the Siris fund, whose general partners are seeking $400 million, the people said. Cohen also decided to hand over his cut of future profits to charity, according to the investors. Siris had agreed at the time of the spinout to give Cohen 20 percent of its slice of profits, or carried interest, from the first fund, the investors said.
Frank Baker, co-founder of Siris, declined to comment, as did Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for SAC Capital at Sard Verbinnen & Co. No allegations of wrongdoing have been levied against Cohen or SAC.
Siris Fundraising
Siris, the private-capital group that spun off from SAC Capital early last year, has raised $175 million for its first buyout fund, said two of the investors, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The fund, Siris Partners II LP, will invest in technology, telecommunications and health-care companies.Public pension plans have been sensitive to any bad press around investments they make.
“The nightmare scenario for any public pension manager is getting a call from a board member one morning because a negative story involving a fund in their portfolio is on page one,” said Jake Elmhirst, a managing director at UBS Investment Bank in New York.
Cohen’s decision not to invest in the fund has alleviated concerns about potential headline risk, one of the people said. Another possible limited partner said his investment firm wouldn’t be troubled if Cohen’s had participated in the fund because that would represent a “validation” of the Siris team.
At SAC, Cohen acted as the sole backer of deals by the private-capital group and helped Siris get started.
Siris gathered $125 million in the first phase of fundraising, according to one investor. Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois committed $45 million in August.
Tekelec, Applied Discovery
In January, Siris led a group that bought Internet services company Tekelec (TKLC) in a deal valued at about $780 million. The firm purchased LexisNexis’s Applied Discovery unit, a provider of electronic legal services, in December.Siris was founded by Baker, Peter Berger and Jeffrey Hendren, who have worked together for more than a decade. They were colleagues at private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC before joining SAC Capital in 2007.
SAC’s private-capital group invested in Cosmos Bank Taiwan (2837), network infrastructure company Airvana and MedQuist Holdings. The deals have produced an average of about two times invested capital, according to another person familiar with Siris.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sabrina Willmer in New York at swillmer2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
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2012年1月19日星期四
Ask the Elder Law Attorney: Disclosures and Loans
Craig Reaves, past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, practices elder law in Kansas City, Mo., and fields occasional questions from New Old Age readers. Submit yours to newoldage@nytimes.com. Please limit your queries to general legal issues, as Mr. Reaves cannot respond with individualized legal advice. Questions have been edited and condensed.
After my mother died in 2006, my father’s doctor said he shouldn’t be left alone. Apparently Mom was covering for him. I’d visited seven weeks earlier and had not recognized how advanced his dementia had become.
Their will, stored in a safe, indicated that two of my sisters should manage things if both parents died. So the family — eight siblings in all — agreed that these two should have legal authority. They were added to financial accounts and given power of attorney. No one was in a position to care for my father, so he moved into a care facility, first in Florida, now in Michigan. He’s in relatively good health at age 80, cheerful on most days. He still knows me.
We siblings have had some squabbles regarding the sale of my parents’ house and other issues. Their estate was not large, probably under $350,000; given my father’s condition, it was always a concern whether he could pay for the care he needed.
I’ve requested, from both sisters who are managing things, some kind of statement as to exactly what Dad’s financial status is. These requests have fallen on deaf ears at times and been met with fury at other times. One sister, who’s slightly more forthcoming, recently told me that Dad has about 18 months of long-term care insurance coverage remaining. After that, he probably has enough money for another 18 months’ care.
Do I have any way to compel my sisters to share what I believe they already should have? Friends have warned that their secrecy in itself could mean unethical goings-on. I’m worried that in three years, they’ll ask me for a significant contribution — even greater than a one-eighth share, because some siblings can’t afford to help at all. That will present a wrenching quandary; I’ve accumulated much less myself than the $350,000 Dad started with. He may yet live a good long while, and I’d like to find a way to help my family avoid becoming more anxious about money as time goes on.
Gina
Phoenix, Ariz.
Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. I strongly suggest that you contact an elder law attorney in the state where your father resides. Every state has its own statutes governing durable powers of attorney, and they can be very different. Whether an attorney-in-fact — meaning the person appointed by the power-of-attorney document to act on another’s behalf — has a duty to keep other heirs and siblings informed will depend on how the document is worded, the applicable state law and the facts of the situation.
Generally, though, the attorney-in-fact owes a fiduciary obligation to the principal (your father, in this case), not his heirs (the rest of the family). Unless the law or the document requires disclosure, an attorney-in-fact is usually not required to share any details with the heirs. She may even be prohibited from doing so.
There may be extenuating circumstances in this case, though, since all the children at one point apparently agreed to contribute time and effort to help their father. Moreover, I’m unsure what you mean when you say that your sisters were added to your father’s financial accounts. It may make a difference whether their names were only added as agents for your father or as joint owners of the accounts.
If directly approaching the attorneys-in-fact brings no satisfaction, and especially if you’re concerned that your sisters may be taking advantage of your father, you can petition the probate court in his county to appoint a guardian or conservator for him.
That will not only provide court oversight but will give you and your siblings access to your father’s financial information. And it will provide a forum in which you can air grievances about your father’s situation. The court will make sure that your father won’t be taken advantage of.
This can be an expensive solution, though, and it is probably a last resort. Perhaps the mere threat of going to court will convince your sisters to be more forthcoming about what they’re doing.
By the way, if your father runs out of money for his long-term care, he should qualify for Medicaid assistance. It generally won’t become his children’s responsibility to pay for his care themselves.
My ex-husband died five months after we divorced. My minor children are his sole heirs. All the accounts and assets were probated, and I was made legal representative. Now my ex-father-in-law is suing the estate for $2,800 in “loans” he made to his son when my ex’s business was slow in 2010.
What proof does he need to provide that this was not just a gift? He may just be trying to hurt me. I’m not sure he realizes, at age 85, that this money would be coming from his grandchildren, not from me.
Dawn
Davie, Fla.
The answer to this question will vary by state, so I suggest that you contact the lawyer who represented you in the probate or an elder law attorney in your community. But generally speaking, if the probate has closed and the decedent’s father knew of the probate, he should be barred from suing to collect on an alleged loan.
If the probate is still underway, the father can file a claim with the court. If the personal representative — that’s you — disputes this supposed loan, the court will schedule a hearing and your former father-in-law will have the burden of proving that this sum was a loan. Normally, that would require a promissory note signed by his son. If he can’t prove that this was a loan, then he can’t collect.
After my mother died in 2006, my father’s doctor said he shouldn’t be left alone. Apparently Mom was covering for him. I’d visited seven weeks earlier and had not recognized how advanced his dementia had become.
Their will, stored in a safe, indicated that two of my sisters should manage things if both parents died. So the family — eight siblings in all — agreed that these two should have legal authority. They were added to financial accounts and given power of attorney. No one was in a position to care for my father, so he moved into a care facility, first in Florida, now in Michigan. He’s in relatively good health at age 80, cheerful on most days. He still knows me.
We siblings have had some squabbles regarding the sale of my parents’ house and other issues. Their estate was not large, probably under $350,000; given my father’s condition, it was always a concern whether he could pay for the care he needed.
I’ve requested, from both sisters who are managing things, some kind of statement as to exactly what Dad’s financial status is. These requests have fallen on deaf ears at times and been met with fury at other times. One sister, who’s slightly more forthcoming, recently told me that Dad has about 18 months of long-term care insurance coverage remaining. After that, he probably has enough money for another 18 months’ care.
Do I have any way to compel my sisters to share what I believe they already should have? Friends have warned that their secrecy in itself could mean unethical goings-on. I’m worried that in three years, they’ll ask me for a significant contribution — even greater than a one-eighth share, because some siblings can’t afford to help at all. That will present a wrenching quandary; I’ve accumulated much less myself than the $350,000 Dad started with. He may yet live a good long while, and I’d like to find a way to help my family avoid becoming more anxious about money as time goes on.
Gina
Phoenix, Ariz.
Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. I strongly suggest that you contact an elder law attorney in the state where your father resides. Every state has its own statutes governing durable powers of attorney, and they can be very different. Whether an attorney-in-fact — meaning the person appointed by the power-of-attorney document to act on another’s behalf — has a duty to keep other heirs and siblings informed will depend on how the document is worded, the applicable state law and the facts of the situation.
Generally, though, the attorney-in-fact owes a fiduciary obligation to the principal (your father, in this case), not his heirs (the rest of the family). Unless the law or the document requires disclosure, an attorney-in-fact is usually not required to share any details with the heirs. She may even be prohibited from doing so.
There may be extenuating circumstances in this case, though, since all the children at one point apparently agreed to contribute time and effort to help their father. Moreover, I’m unsure what you mean when you say that your sisters were added to your father’s financial accounts. It may make a difference whether their names were only added as agents for your father or as joint owners of the accounts.
If directly approaching the attorneys-in-fact brings no satisfaction, and especially if you’re concerned that your sisters may be taking advantage of your father, you can petition the probate court in his county to appoint a guardian or conservator for him.
That will not only provide court oversight but will give you and your siblings access to your father’s financial information. And it will provide a forum in which you can air grievances about your father’s situation. The court will make sure that your father won’t be taken advantage of.
This can be an expensive solution, though, and it is probably a last resort. Perhaps the mere threat of going to court will convince your sisters to be more forthcoming about what they’re doing.
By the way, if your father runs out of money for his long-term care, he should qualify for Medicaid assistance. It generally won’t become his children’s responsibility to pay for his care themselves.
My ex-husband died five months after we divorced. My minor children are his sole heirs. All the accounts and assets were probated, and I was made legal representative. Now my ex-father-in-law is suing the estate for $2,800 in “loans” he made to his son when my ex’s business was slow in 2010.
What proof does he need to provide that this was not just a gift? He may just be trying to hurt me. I’m not sure he realizes, at age 85, that this money would be coming from his grandchildren, not from me.
Dawn
Davie, Fla.
The answer to this question will vary by state, so I suggest that you contact the lawyer who represented you in the probate or an elder law attorney in your community. But generally speaking, if the probate has closed and the decedent’s father knew of the probate, he should be barred from suing to collect on an alleged loan.
If the probate is still underway, the father can file a claim with the court. If the personal representative — that’s you — disputes this supposed loan, the court will schedule a hearing and your former father-in-law will have the burden of proving that this sum was a loan. Normally, that would require a promissory note signed by his son. If he can’t prove that this was a loan, then he can’t collect.
Craig Reaves, past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, practices law in Kansas City, Mo., and fields occasional questions from New Old Age readers. Submit yours to newoldage@nytimes.com. Please limit your queries to general legal issues, as Mr. Reaves cannot respond with personalized legal advice.
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2011年12月30日星期五
Help your pet prepare for air travel
Make sure you have proper travel gear to make air travel as safe as possible for your pet.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Before you book a ticket for your pet, do research about your destination and any scheduled stops along the way
- Buy the best travel gear for your pet, and then reinforce it for an even safer flight
- Seek pet-friendly airports and watch your pet board and de-plane
“They were very nonchalant about it,” says Lombardi, co-owner of The Trip Chicks travel agency, about the incident that occurred nearly five years ago. “I’m sure that’s not as widespread as it used to be. But, if at all possible, I feel more comfortable avoiding pets flying as cargo. If it’s drivable, and the person has to take their pet, that’s better.”
The American Pet Products Association estimates that more than 60 percent of U.S. households have pets. Those kittens, pooches — even snakes and gerbils — need to leave the nest, eventually. Some of those pets take family vacations, and commercial airlines have met that demand by opening their cargo bins and their cabins to our furry companions.
Most pets reach their destinations without incident each day. But horror stories — such as the pug that died in cargo during a trans-Atlantic flight or the baggage handler who lost her job over her refusal to load an emaciated dog on a plane — cause pet lovers like Lombardi to reconsider air travel. Before you book a ticket for your pet, do research about your destination and any scheduled stops along the way. Here are a few tips for a fun, safe and pet-friendly trip that includes airline travel.
MNN: Top 10 tips for flying with pets
Work the ‘Net
After struggling to find hotels that would accommodate his dog Ruggles, travel agent Jerry Hatfield created PetTravel.com. His team works with commercial airlines to deliver guidelines about travel-worthy crates, pet-friendly hotel listings and tips on clearing airport security. Also check BringFido.com and FidoFriendly.com for travel tips — and don’t forget to ask friends for recommendations. They may lead you to hidden treasures, like the fun, funky and dog-friendly Thunderbird Inn that I discovered in Savannah, Georgia.
Consider the season
Temperatures in the cargo hold can be dramatically different from passenger cabins. Some airlines even refuse to fly pets as cargo when temperatures hit extreme highs and lows. “Try not to travel with your pet in cargo during the cold winter or hot summer,” says PetTravel.com President Susan Smith. “Depending on where you are flying, you cut down risk to the pet.”
Get the best gear, and reinforce it
If your pet does fly in the cargo hold, purchase a sturdy carrier. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which comprises about 230 airlines, offers online tips to select the right crate for your pet. Cable ties add another level of security. “At end of the day, you want to make sure your pet does not get out of that crate,” Smith says.
A cat named Jack gained international recognition after being lost — then found 61 days later — inside JFK airport in New York. According to the American Airlines incident report filed with the Department of Transportation, Jack escaped when a clerk placed the cat’s kennel on another kennel and it fell, opening on impact. He eventually was euthanized because he was so malnourished and dehydrated that his skin tore easily, making him prone to severe infection and organ dysfunction.
“A lot more airlines are requiring the use of steel nuts and bolts as opposed to plastic [crate] fasteners,” Smith says, adding that Boston Logan International Airport has a training program for its baggage handlers. “If you put on metal or steel hardware, the chances of keeping your pet safe are higher.”
MNN: How to prepare for an emergency — pets included
Watch your pet board — and de-plane
Pets are always boarded last, Smith notes. If at all possible, watch airport staff load your pet onto the plane. “If that’s not available, I would not get on a plane until I received word that my pet has been boarded,” she says. “Tell the captain you are traveling with a pet and say, ‘Please be sensitive about pressurizing the cargo hold.’ It’s good to be a squeaky wheel. It’s good that they know this is your pet.”
Seek pet-friendly airports
In 2009, the Department of Transportation required U.S. airports to provide pet relief areas that help service animals stretch their legs between flights. PetFriendlyTravel.com lists pet relief areas for airports across the country, including the Poochie Park at Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta. Many airports and airlines have begun to upgrade these areas with fun features.
“KLM and Air France in Amsterdam have 24-hour-a-day service,” Lombardi says. “Airline personnel will take your pet from one carrier to another, and they have dog walkers that take the dog from the kennel, clean the kennel, put ice cubes in the dish and pet the dog.”
MNN: How to help elderly relatives keep their beloved pets
Stateside, Lombardi and Smith give Bush Intercontinental Airport high marks for its on-site kennel with more than 1,000 square feet of pet runs. Run by Continental, it’s the only on-site kennel run by a commercial airline. The facility charges $100 for the first night and $15 each additional night.
“You can take the dog around, or airline personnel can take the dog around, and then put the dog in a nice spacious kennel area,” Ann says. “It’s considered the cream of the crop.”
While pet relief areas typically exist outside the terminal, Lombardi also credits Washington-Dulles airport with providing a relief area inside, closer to departure gates. Overseas, carriers offer even more perks.
“The airlines have realized that the transport of pets is a very good thing for them in terms of the bottom line,” Smith says, noting that Baby Boomers fuel the pet travel trend. “Baby Boomers are a mobile society — and they are taking their pets with them.”
© Copyright 2011 Mother Nature Network
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