Access International Advisors

Access International Advisors
hedge fund
Founded 1994
Founder René-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet and Patrick Littaye

Access International Advisors and Marketers (AIA Group), a Securities and Exchange Commission-registered investment advisor and a hedge fund of funds, was a research analyst investment agency that specialized in managing hedged and structured investment portfolios that involve commercial physical and biological research.[1][2][3][4][5] It was a feeder fund into the securities firm of Bernie Madoff, as part of the Madoff investment scandal.[6]

History

The company was co-founded in 1994 by French bankers, yachtsman René-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet (the former CEO of Crédit Lyonnais Securities USA) and Patrick Littaye.[3][7][8] Philippe Junot, the first husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, was a partner of the company.[3]

The firm told investors in 2008 that it conducted extensive due diligence on funds in which it invested.[3]

Access International Advisors LLC’s LuxAlpha Sicav-American Selection was a UCITS fund that invested 95% of its money with Bernie Madoff.[9] It had $1.4 billion in net assets 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.[3][7][9][10] It failed after Madoff’s activities were discovered.[9]

On December 23, 2008, less than two weeks after Madoff's arrest, de la Villehuchet reportedly committed suicide.[7][11] He was found dead in his company office on Madison Avenue in New York City.[12] His wrists and left bicep were slit,[13] and de la Villehuchet had taken sleeping pills, in what appeared to be a suicide.[6] Although no suicide note 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.[13]

In 2009, Littay was charged in France with participating in a breach of trust, a crime punishable by as many as three years in prison.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ AIA Group Company Web site (went offline, but is still accessible through archive.org)
  2. ↑ Company Profile on Manta Company profile on Manta
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Deborah Hart Strober, Gerald Strober, Gerald S. Strober. Catastrophe: The Story of Bernard L. Madoff, the Man Who Swindled the World. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ Max H. Bazerman, Ann E. Tenbrunsel (March 21, 2011). Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ Harry Markopolos (January 29, 2010). No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  6. 1 2
  7. 1 2 3 Lionel S. Lewis (June 13, 2012). Con Game: Bernard Madoff and His Victims. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Smith, Heather (November 4, 2009). "Access International’s Littaye Charged in Madoff Case )". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 Bodoni, Stephanie (April 29, 2013). "HSBC Liability for Madoff Losses an Issue After Four Years". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  10. ↑ Ladis Konecny. Stocks and Exchange. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Hedge". Nydailynews.com. December 24, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  12. ↑ Company Address. Futuressourcebook.com. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Berenson, Alex, and Matthew Saltmarsh, "Madoff Investor’s Suicide Leaves Questions", The New York Times, 2009-01-02, p. B1 New York edition.
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