Gam has revealed that shareholders of its suspended unconstrained absolute return bond fund range will be receiving their second round of payments in the coming days.
Last Friday the Swiss asset manager wrote to shareholders of the Luxembourg funds within its soon to be liquidated CHF 11bn (£8.5bn) ARBF range alerting them the second payment would be coming through this Wednesday in keeping with its pre-arranged schedule.
Information on the Ireland, Cayman and Australian ARBF funds is also due out this week.
Payments
The first round of payments was made in early September, following a tumultuous month for the asset manager, which began with the suspension of the strategy’s star manager Tim Haywood.
Investors in the Gam Multibond Absolute Return Bond (ARB) and Gam Multibond ARB Plus received 74% and 75% of their money, while Gam Multibond ARB Defender shareholders received 80%.
By 26 September that figure will rise to 82% for the Gam Multibond ARB and ARB Plus funds and 86% for the ARB Defender fund.
Source: Gam
Liquidation ‘progressing as planned’
Tim Rainsford, group head of sales and distribution, told shareholders “the liquidation process is progressing as planned”.
“We continue to ensure all clients in the funds are being treated fairly and equally, receiving their proportionate share of the liquidation proceeds,” he said.
After the second round of payments, the remaining assets in the funds will be liquidated and returned over the coming months “depending on market conditions”. Rainsford said Gam would update investors on this further in Q4 18.
The asset manager is still planning on putting alternative structures in place for those investors that want to remain invested with the ARBF team.
Gam shocked the industry after announcing in July that one of its star managers, Haywood, had been suspended following an internal investigation. The group gated the nine funds in the ARBF range days later and eventually broke its silence on Haywood as criticism continued to mount. It agreed to liquidate the funds a few days later.
Gam has not yet clarified whether Haywood will return to the firm.
