Monogram Residential Trust's Proposed Listing is Further Evidence That Even the Non-Traded REITs Winners Are Losers
(Sep 2014)
The non-traded REIT, Monogram Residential Trust, rebranded from the Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I this April, is "exploring a potential listing on a national securities exchange", Monogram's CEO Mark Alfieri wrote in a letter to investors last month. Monogram's managers and senior advisors are optimistic that such a liquidity event will "maximize shareholder value". They claim that the REIT's main problem has been a lack of monetization. We disagree.
We have analyzed all of Monogram's...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 19th, 2014
(Sep 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Eight for Roles in Widespread Pump-And-Dump Scheme Involving California-Based Microcap Company
September 18, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23087)
Charges were filed against eight individuals cooperating in what the SEC alleges is a "pump-and-dump scheme involving a penny stock company...that has repeatedly changed its name and purported line of business over the past several years." The SEC named Izak Zirk de Maison and Angelique de Maison as the...
United Development Funding IV Left Investors $34.8 Million Worse Off
(Jun 2014)
On Wednesday last week, another non-traded REIT listed on a public exchange. United Development Funding IV (ticker: UDF), which sold as a non-traded REIT for $20 per share, closed its first day of trading on the NASDAQ at $19.60. As we have argued extensively in the past, we think that non-traded REITs are a very bad deal for investors, and UDF IV was no exception.
We have gone through all of UDF IV's SEC filings and applied the gross proceeds, distributions, and other cash flows to a liquid,...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - June 6th, 2014
(Jun 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Charles J. Dushek, Charles S. Dushek, and Capital Management Associates, Inc., June 5, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 23015)
Final judgments have been entered against Charles J. Dushek, Charles S. Dushek, and their investment advisory firm, Capital Management Associates, Inc., for their involvement in a "cherry-picking" scheme that "garnered the Dusheks nearly $2 million in illicit profits." The final judgment permanently enjoins the...
FINRA Enforcement Actions: Month in Review
(Jun 2014)
MAY 2014 SELECTED FINRA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
FIRMS FINED
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC (CRD #14020, Chicago, Illinois)
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC consented to a censure and $95,000 fine for allegedly failing "to report short interest positions to the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA on certain settlement dates, and submitt[ing] to FINRA an inaccurate short-interest position report." FINRA found that the firm's supervisory system did not provide for supervision reasonably designed to achieve...
Non-traded REITs' Annualized Returns Were 4.82% Compared to Traded REITs' 10.44%.
(May 2014)
We have posted previously about how non-traded REITs which have had "liquidity events" have destroyed $27.7 billion in investor wealth compared to traded REITS. See our other blog posts on Non-Traded REITs. In this post, we calculate that the 27 non-traded REITs we discussed in prior posts have an internal rate of return (IRR) of 4.82%, which is 5.62 percentage points lower than the 10.44% IRR of a liquid, diversified REIT mutual fund over the same time period, with the same cash flows.
To...
FINRA Enforcement Actions: Month in Review
(May 2014)
APRIL 2014 SELECTED FINRA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
FIRMS FINED
The Huntington Investment Company (CRD #16986, Columbus, Ohio)
The Huntington Investment Company consented to a $25,000 fine and censure. The firm consented to an entry of "findings that it failed to provide notice to the MSRB via the Electronic Municipal Market Access System (EMMA) that no preliminary official statements or official statements were to be prepared for bond anticipation note offerings in which the firm participated."...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - May 16th, 2014
(May 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Unregistered Securities Salesman for Selling Millions of Dollars in Oil-And-Gas Investments
May 15, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22993)
According to the complaint, Behrooz Sarafraz "acted as the primary salesman on behalf of TVC Opus I Drilling Program LP and Tri-Valley Corporation" and received over $16 million in sales commissions while failing to be registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer. Sarafraz has agreed to a final judgment that enjoins...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - May 9th, 2014
(May 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Three Friends and Business Associates of Former Chairman of Home Diagnostics, Inc., in Insider Trading Scheme
May 7, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22987)
John Campani, John Mullin, and Alan Posner have all been charged with trading on insider information concerning Nipro Corporation's acquisition of Home Diagnostics, Inc for combined profits of "more than $105,000." The defendants were allegedly tipped this information by former Chairman of the Board at...
