Access International Advisors and Marketers (AIA Group), a

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

-registered

investment advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

and a hedge fund of funds, was a

research analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, o ...

investment agency that specialized in managing hedged and structured

investment portfolio In finance, a portfolio is a collection of investments. Definition The term “portfolio” refers to any combination of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash. Portfolios may be held by individual investors or managed by financial pro ...

s that involve commercial physical and biological research. It was a

feeder fund A feeder fund is an investment fund which does almost all of its investments through a ''master fund'' via a master-feeder relationship. It is a situation similar to a fund of funds A "fund of funds" (FOF) is an investment strategy of holding ...

into the securities firm of

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDA ...

, as part of the

Madoff investment scandal The Madoff investment scandal was a major case of stock and securities fraud discovered in late 2008. In December of that year, Bernie Madoff, the former NASDAQ chairman and founder of the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities ...

History

The company was co-founded in 1994 by French bankers, yachtsman René-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet (the former CEO of

Crédit Lyonnais The Crédit Lyonnais (, "Lyon Credit ompany) was a major French bank, created in 1863 and absorbed by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003. Its head office was initially in Lyon but moved to Paris in 1882. In the early years of the 20th cent ...

Securities USA) and Patrick Littaye.

Philippe Junot Philippe Junot (born 19 April 1940) is a French venture capitalist and property developer, who was the first husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco. He has business interests in Paris, Spain and New York City. Background and family Junot is the ...

, the first husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, was a partner of the company. The firm told investors in 2008 that it conducted extensive

due diligence Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a l ...

on funds in which it invested. Access International Advisors LLC’s LuxAlpha Sicav-American Selection was a

UCITS The Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive (UCITS2009/65/ECis a consolidated EU directive that allows collective investment schemes to operate freely throughout the EU on the basis of a single authorisation fro ...

fund that invested 95% of its money with

. It had $1.4 billion in

net assets Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

a month before Madoff's December 2008 arrest and was exposed for $1.4 billion, which it had placed with Madoff's securities fund, in the Madoff

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

. It failed after Madoff’s activities were discovered. De la Villehuchet harboured some hope of recovering the money he'd lost to Madoff–including his and Littaye's personal fortunes. However, by December 18, a week after the scandal, it was apparent that all was irretrievably lost, and that both he and AIA were finished. He didn't have nearly enough money to pay his employees or the rent, and there were rumors that he'd face criminal charges. A friend told him, "Your professional life is over." On December 23, 2008, less than two weeks after Madoff's arrest, de la Villehuchet reportedly committed suicide. He was found dead in his company office on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

in New York City. His wrists and left bicep were slit,Berenson, Alex, and Matthew Saltmarsh
"Madoff Investor’s Suicide Leaves Questions"
''The New York Times'', 2009-01-02, p. B1

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

edition. and de la Villehuchet had taken sleeping pills, in what appeared to be a suicide. Although no

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message left behind by a person who dies or intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depe ...

was found at the scene, his brother in France received a note shortly after his death in which he expressed remorse and a feeling of responsibility. In 2009, Littaye was charged in France with participating in a breach of trust, a crime punishable by as many as three years in prison.

References

{{Madoff investment scandal Madoff investment scandal Hedge funds

History

See also

References