A four-law firm legal team with nationally recognized securities law experience has filed investor claims against Morgan Keegan and is continuing an investigation of Morgan Keegan bond mutual funds.
Claims recently were filed on behalf of an Indiana charity alleging that the charity was unaware that the Morgan Keegan bond fund recommended by the firm had become highly concentrated in highly risky mortgage and asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
The charity’s legal team includes the firms of Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari, of Beverly Hills, Calif.; Maddox, Hargett & Caruso, P.C., of Indianapolis, Ind. and New York, N.Y.; Page Perry, LLC, of Atlanta, Ga.; and David P. Meyer & Associates Co., L.P.A., of Columbus, Ohio.
According to Thomas A. Hargett, a partner at Maddox, Hargett & Caruso, P.C., “The charity we represent was induced into investing in the Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund- C because it was purported to be ‘safe.’ The fund was anything but safe and it was not appropriate for the charity.”
“Investors in numerous Morgan Keegan bond mutual funds have experienced losses in net asset value of more than 50 percent since the beginning of 2007, with large losses sustained over the last five months. Recent news reports indicate that mortgage-backed securities and CDOs may constitute significant portions of Morgan Keegan bond fund portfolios,” said Mr. Hargett.
Ryan Bakhtiari, a partner at Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari, said, “The funds that we’re investigating are managed by Morgan Keegan Asset Management, Inc. Their poor performance appears to be a result of management’s decisions to concentrate investments in highly risky mortgage and asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).”
The law firms are investigating the following funds that have been adversely impacted by the collapse of the mortgage markets and subprime crisis:
- Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income-A, (Sym: MKHIX), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -54.45 percent
- Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income-C, (Sym: RHICX), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -54.66 percent
- Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income-I, (Sym: RHIIX), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -54.35 percent
- RMK High Income Fund, (NYSE: RMH), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -60.83 percent
- RMK Strategic Income Fund, (NYSE: RSF), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -61.86 percent
- Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund-A, (Sym: MKIBX), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -42.73 percent
- Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund-C, (Sym: RIBCX), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -42.96 percent
- Regions Morgan Keegan Select Intermediate Bond Fund-I, (Sym: RIBIX), Year to Date Return a/o (11/20/07) -42.50 percent
J. Boyd Page, of Page Perry LLC, said, “Many investors, from individuals to institutions, are not aware that their portfolios include mortgage-backed securities and CDOs because of how these products were marketed. We believe that many bond funds were aggressively marketed as investment-grade with A, AA or even AAA ratings. Some of the Morgan Keegan bond funds apparently held below-investment grade securities. For example, the Select Intermediate Bond Fund C has 49.7 percent of its portfolio in BBB securities. We urge investors to investigate whether their investment holdings include at-risk bond funds.”
David P. Meyer, of Meyer & Associates, Co., L.P.A., said, “Our legal team’s collective experience is notable. Our group includes the immediate past president and several current and former directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), the co-chairman of the American Bar Association Securities Arbitration Subcommittee, the current chair and past members of the FINRA National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC), a former general counsel of a national brokerage company, a former state securities commissioner, and a past member of the NASD Securities Arbitration Policy Task Force.”
More information is available at www.subprimelosses.com