...
If there is no money left after expenses, distributions and management fees, there is no return.
Again, as stated in my post of 23 November, "these funds for the past 3 years have been largely applied to impaired loans.
There are no compensatory arrangements or fees payable to Equititrust for this facility, and they do not regain the funds foregone".
Equititrust Ltd could have legally taken these funds for their own use and left the impairments to erode the value of the subordinated investment and investors' funds. It has to be said that Equititrust's application of the RSI to impairments is a demonstrable act of good faith. (End of quote) ...
I must admit you do seem to know a lot about Equititrust. The EPIF is only available for Wholesale investors... yes? is that fund frozen as well...
Hi Olman,
yes, it's true that a return will only occur in the event of a profit - that's how the fund is swept free of excess cash, rather than leave the money in the fund to offset future losses. I guess the bonus of any annual profit could have went to either investors or the manager, but since it's the manager's game, the manager took the bonus.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'these funds' being applied to impaired loans. Certainly any impairment would reduce profit and there reduce the size of any return to the manager from the capital warranty, but there is no 'application' of the manager's units to offset impairments to date under the present PDS. You might be kind enough to point out these offsets.
Again, I'm not sure what you mean by "there are no compensatory arrangements or fees payable .. for this facility .. they do not regain the funds foregone." because there are no funds foregone to date under the present PDS. Again, if I'm wrong, please be kind enough to point out the fees foregone.
Yes, Equititrust Limited could have taken the surplus subordinated investment over and above the minimum $20m as set out in the PDS, but it's clear that would be a silly move while the fund is turning a profit and offering up a return of near 40%, however, when profit disappears, it seems it would be a good move to extract (as they are able to, as any other secure lender to the fund) as much as possible.
That's where this so-called 'security' has been a real boom to Equititrust Limited at investors' expense. I guess most investors thought the subordinated investment was really a security, but if they'd thought about it a little bit, they would have seen it's no more than a mechanism which allows the fund to be swept of profit while only leaving a relatively small security of up to $20m (zero if the manager is replaced for any reason).
This so-called security has allowed the manager to invest in the fund in order to glean extraordinary profits while offering not much at all in the way of security for members.
I dont think it matters if OLMAN is tied closely with EQUITITRUST or not - from the depth of inside knowledge he (or she) has - we all assume that to be the case - what is good though, is we do seem to be getting some detail, at long last.
A quck one for OLMAN - does Dudley QUINLIVIN or any entity associated with him owe any of theFUNDS circa $50Million?
The ability of the fund manager to "sweep up the excess cash" is a consequence of the business model as outlined in the PDS. When I became aware of this, I drew the same conclusions you have (ie, Equititrust was skimming the profits while the fund was frozen) , and posted my concerns which can be found in the beginnings of this thread.
Eventually I spoke directly to Equititrust about this, and they pointed out that for the three years prior the RSI had been applied to impairments and admin costs as previously outlined. The nitty gritty details do not appear in the EIF PDS, but were reflected in Equititrust Ltd Annual Reports. This appeared to be because of the seperate administration and reporting structures of the EQT identitities. Reporting at the time was pretty scratchy, and has improved dramatically over the past 6-12 months.
The ability to take the excess profits is clearly stated in the PDS. Investors put money into EQT for the benchmark rate of return, and the manager's profits were not the investors' issue. If they were an issue to an investor, they had the choice not to invest. We were in it for the stated return. I don't think anybody expected any windfalls as a result of their investments.
The funds foregone were the RSI returns that were legally available to EQT - some $40m over the three years specified. $30m was applied to impairments, and $10m went on admin costs. Being naturally suspicious and cynical like you, I asked EQT about this, figuring they would probably charge these amounts foregone as some sort of debt due to them at a later date. There response was "there are no compensatory arrangements or fees payable .. for this facility .. they do not regain the funds foregone."
The subordinated investment is currently $40m. This can be reduced to $20m subject to conditions you allude to and outlined in the PDS. The RSI is compensation for the risks associated with the subordinated investment. If there is any capital loss, the subordinated investment is diminished all the way to zero before any investor loses capital. The RSI is a lucrative return for EQT when all goes well, but as recent history shows, EQT take the first hit in the event of impairments.
When these facts are considered, Equititrust appears to be acting honourably, in my book. The constant calls in this thread for them to explain away every possible contingency of existence are beyond reason. If the posters throwing in these distractions are so smart, why are they not running their own empires - how do they find the time to dream up such scenarios?
cheers!
Never one to lose an opportunity to insinuate, Kostag continues to fling manure.
The "depth" of my "inside knowledge" comes from reading the publications on the Equititrust web site and actually speaking with management, which is a logical process for any genuine investor.
I don't see any need to check out any of your querulous statements or questions with them. I thought you had all the answers? What's the matter with your well respected and trusted advisor? Falling down on the job, is he?
"We all assume..." - yeah, you sure do. You and all your mates.
...
Eventually I spoke directly to Equititrust about this, and they pointed out that for the three years prior the RSI had been applied to impairments and admin costs as previously outlined. The nitty gritty details do not appear in the EIF PDS, but were reflected in Equititrust Ltd Annual Reports. This appeared to be because of the seperate administration and reporting structures of the EQT identitities. Reporting at the time was pretty scratchy, and has improved dramatically over the past 6-12 months.
...
The funds foregone were the RSI returns that were legally available to EQT - some $40m over the three years specified. $30m was applied to impairments, and $10m went on admin costs.
...
The RSI is compensation for the risks associated with the subordinated investment. If there is any capital loss, the subordinated investment is diminished all the way to zero before any investor loses capital.
The RSI is a lucrative return for EQT when all goes well, but as recent history shows, EQT take the first hit in the event of impairments.
...
As previously declared, I don't have a horse in this race, but I must say that I'm surprised by your comments about the detail being in the fund reports (which don't seem to be available online).
A transaction appears in the annual report for 2009 (which was swept clean to the tune of in excess of $9m) page 4 (in part):-
http://www.equititrust.com.au/Pdfs/EIF_Fin_statement_Jun_30_09.pdf
"... 4. Net assets attributable to investors - liability
... 30 June 2009
Ordinary investments 277,510,458 13,193,674 (42,136,143) (42,083,486) 248,620,646
Subordinated investments - 40,300,000 42,136,143 (42,403,370) 40,032,773
Total 277,510,458 53,493,674 - (84,486,856) 246,517,276 ..."
The transaction is the transfer of $42,136,143 from ordinary investments into $42,136,143 as a subordinated investment.
It'd be interesting to see whether this transfer happened before or after the fund was frozen. I wouldn't have thought it would be permitted to happen if the fund was frozen.
I wonder why the 42 million wasn't simply redeemed - because if the fund was frozen, then the redemption wouldn't be permitted, unless of course, it was deemed to be a subordinated investment.
I mean, if the manager had 42 million units as an ordinary investment and the fund was frozen, then those 42 millions would be frozen and unavailable for redemption except when offers/payments are made.
If on the other hand, the units are subordinate units, then the units are redeemable in that same frozen fund.
Great isn't it? The manager has converted ordinary units into redeemable subordinate units for redemption rather than redeeming them directly -- food for thought? If you really want to think about it.
Certainly in the 2008/2009 year there were no impairment plugs. In any event, any short term plugs on impairments (keeping in mind, impairments are not actual losses) would be offset by profits in any event.
i'll leave for members to be concerned about what happens to the subordinate units, but I'll bet that the most that will lay at risk will be no more than $20m.
The manager always has the inside scoop - the manager will know when there's trouble on the horizon - members only find out these things months and months later.
That little $42m two-step between ordinary investments and subordinate investments is really something I'd be giving some thought to if I was an investor in the fund. As they say, "Timing is everything".
I guess investors never really thought they'd get a bargain, but I'd guess they never thought they'd make a loss either.
I have inadvertently misled you. The accounting for the application of the RSI to impairments was in the Equititrust Ltd Financial Reports, which are not publicly available, but which were made available for my perusal after enquiring into the issue.
The subordinated investment of $40m in the EIF is subordinated to the rights of ordinary investors, and can be reduced to $20m "provided it has the approval of the finance credit line providers". Currently the value of the fund has to erode by $40m before any investor is affected. The current value of the fund is the key issue. I understand that Equititrust will be mailing an update on the loan portfolio and valuations to investors within the next few days. There will be more to discuss when the information is available.
The fact remains that no investor has made a capital loss to date. Interest is still being paid. While there are no guarantees into the future, I'm inclined to wait for the update before jumping to conclusions.
It does appear that loans may have been made to Dudley Quinlivan and his companies..
If this is the case then Equititrust needs to explain why these loans were made to an individual who's past history has been known for well over 10 years.
The Gold Coast White Shoe Brigade continues down its spivy path again and again..
It does appear that loans may have been made to Dudley Quinlivan and his companies..
If this is the case then Equititrust needs to explain why these loans were made to an individual who's past history has been known for well over 10 years.
The Gold Coast White Shoe Brigade continues down its spivy path again and again..
So, one has to ask "Why would a manager take $42m from a interest bearing account, transfer it to a non-interest bearing account, and then redeem it in a very different way to that of an ordinary investment?"
HYPOTHETICAL: Imagine a fund which becomes non-liquid - and imagine investors find out that management had withdrawn their investments within a short time period of the date of the freeze - wouldn't that raise some concerns? Isn't it the manager which freezes the fund? Isn't it the manager who has all the inside information?
..
In answer to the HYPOTHETICAL part of your post, of course the manager has all the inside information. I would expect the manager to manage the fund responsibly. Whether this actually is happening or not is a matter of opinion.
The funds "withdrawn" by management were converted from the profits of the fund to amortise impairments - they haven't been taken from investors' capital.
Investors contributions are still currently accounted for and theoretically still exist. We can view all of this negatively as you have, or weigh up the probabilities based on the integrity of the company to date and see it realistically as management techniques to deal with problems of liquidity.
You put a lot of accent on the manager "withdrawing" funds via the subordinated investment mechanism, and give scant credence to the application of those funds to impairments.
From my investigations, I believe the manager has made nothing for 3 years other than administrative fees. This speaks volumes for those who have an open mind.
It will be interesting to see the final outcome in this whole sorry saga. Investors may or may not lose capital, but to forecast a definite result either way is pure conjecture at this point in time. The updated EIF information to be released shortly will be interesting reading.
INVESTORS trapped in a troubled $240 million Gold Coast investment fund face further uncertainty after money loaned to a company linked to two-time former bankrupt Dudley Quinlivan was forced into administration.
Croftworth Property Holdings (No.1 and No.2) of which Mr Quinlivan is a former director and remains a shareholder in a related company were placed in administration last week after Westpac Bank called in receivers.
The move places a question mark over Gold Coast-based Equititrust Income Fund, which loaned money to Quinlivan-linked companies in 2007.
Well it seems that the Queensland media is also now on the case of Equititrust. Despite silence on Equititrust's part it has taken the media to reveal who the investors’ money is REALLY lent to . To have lent a single investor's dollar to Quinlivan is a disgrace of monumental proportions. Hey what do you expect from the Gold Coast White Shoe Brigade Mortgage Funds..
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