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How very interesting. And unbelievably confusing.JSE-listed MMI subsidiary MET CI now maintains that it has nothing to do with Ponzi scheme kingpin Cobus Kellermann. A statement issued this afternoon (see below) says that in July 2014 Kellermann’s company Clarus Asset Managers was sold to Contego Asset Management. MET CI says that’s when the business relationship ended.
So what are we to make of its own fund management sheets at end December which clearly show the now unmasked Ponzi king to be the fund manager of MET CI’s own branded Global Diversified Feeder Fund? Along with an impressive sounding CV which contained no reference to his selling Clarus nor any connection to Mr Charles Ponzi’s invention.But here’s where it gets really confusing. MET CI says Contego was in turn sold to Peter Armitage’s Anchor Capital. Presumably after a thorough Due Diligence. But when Armitage sent me his statement after reding my draft article on Saturday, he wrote: “I believe Cobus (Kellermann) owns Clarus Asset Management, which outsources the management of its funds to external asset managers, which I believe includes Efficient Group, Coronation, Contego, Atlantic and ourselves among others.” He added that Anchor recently acquired Contego. It’s pretty clear in in our article – read it here.
MET CI chief Kevin Hinton – scrambling to put distance between his company and Ponzi kingpin Cobus Kellermann
Because if you read MET CI’s statement, Armitage was already the owner of Clarus. So why say what he did?And one other thing. Boutique asset managers Altantic and Aylett objected to my colleague Candice Paine’s article listing them among Clarus’s outsourced asset managers. Both were named were since removed because, they said, they were themselves dumped by Clarus in early 2014. Yet both were listed on the most recent official fund fact sheets. Even Armitage, thought they managed the funds.It seems in the sudden rush to put distance between themselves and Cobus Kellermann and David Cosgrove, everyone is finding an alibi.In MET CI’s case this has only just emerged and was not even considered a couple days ago. Because of the publicly stated relationship with Kellermann and Clarus, I sent MET CI chief Kevin Hinton a draft of my first article on Saturday morning. His response: “Thanks for bringing this matter to our attention. We will conduct our own investigation on the matter and will not offer any comment at this stage.”
He might have shared the now seemingly obvious fact that Kellermann was not one of their managers. Or that his Clarus-branded funds (Kellermann was very much the CEO then) were actually owned by another business called Contego, lthough why it would have wanted to retain the Clarus name when it carries an association with the dodgy and since liquidated Dynamic Wealth defies logic.Confused? Not half as much as I am. Maybe after you’ve read the MET CI statement, you’re able to make more sense of it. Or maybe any number of the parties involved will tell us what really happened – apart from the scrambling to prove how they actually didn’t ever do any business with Kellermann. Surely it would be a lot more helpful to re-assess the Due Diligence processes that got them to associate the MET CI brand with the Ponzi king in the first instance? Now that would be constructive.From MET CI:MET Collective Investments RF Proprietary Limited (“MetCI”), a subsidiary of MMI Holdings Limited refers to various media reports associating it and Clarus Asset Managers Proprietary Limited (“Clarus”).
MetCI therefore wishes to confirm the following:* MetCI is not associated with any alleged Ponzi scheme nor Mr Cobus Kellermann and his businesses.
* The business relationship between Mr Kellermann and MetCI ended in July 2014 after Contego Asset Management (“Contego”) purchased Clarus.
* MetCI confirms that Mr Kellermann is not a director, key individual, employee or representative of Contego and has no authority to manage any of the funds listed below.
* Contego is an authorised financial services provider, FSP (financial services provider) licence 788 and is a subsidiary of Anchor Capital – a listed company on the JSE AltX.
* Prior to July 2014, MetCI had appointed Clarus as the discretionary FSP for the Clarus branded unit trusts. These funds include the following:
* Clarus MET Equity Value Fund
* Clarus MET Optimal Fund
* Clarus MET Property Fund
* Clarus MET Real Income Fund
* Clarus MET Wealth Accumulator Fund of Funds
* Clarus MET Wealth Creator Fund of Funds
* Clarus MET Wealth Preserver Fund of Funds
* MET Global Diversified Feeder Fund of Funds
* After the appointment of Contego, MetCI commenced with the process to amalgamate all of the above mentioned funds into the Contego unit trust funds. This amalgamation is a consequence of the purchase of Clarus by Contego and is unrelated to the Kellermann allegations.
* MetCI and Contego confirm that unit holders’ investments in the Clarus MET funds are held in JSE listed securities and/or offshore domiciled funds.
* MetCI further confirms that the MET Global Diversified Feeder Fund of Funds is invested via the Armstrong Global Diversified Fund, regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Centre.
* Furthermore our records reflect that the MET Global Diversified Feeder Fund of Funds holds assets in reputable global investment managers such as Nedgroup, Prescient, Sanlam, Investec, STANLIB and others. These investments are made via the Armstrong Global Diversified Fund.
* MetCI is currently in the process of validating the asset holdings with the trustees in their respective foreign jurisdictions in order to assess the extent to which, if at all, any investments may be compromised. MetCI will make further announcements in this regard as soon as its investigations have been concluded.
* MetCI is an approved Manager in terms of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act and accordingly complies with the custody requirements of assets held within these funds.
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UPDATE:
Since publication of the article above, several regulatory authorities have conducted investigations into the allegations of fraud and of a possible Ponzi scheme and have found as follows:
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission having reviewed their Enforcement Division’s report and accompanying evidence concluded that no further action will be taken and that their proceedings are at an end.
The US based Chartered Financial Analyst Institute stated, after reviewing the information available to them, that their Professional Conduct program decided to close its investigation and to take no disciplinary action, reserving the right to reopen the matter if new information comes to hand.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority found no evidence of any breaches of the relevant South African financial sector laws.
