Wellington Capital PIF/Octaviar (MFS) PIF

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

I'm no fan of the ASIC crowd, but they do love trophies and the ensuing glare of publicity. I would have thought any former ambassador involved in a business crash would be worth some time spent by them in asking a few questions. Adler must know all about that.

If it really is possible for ASIC to freeze Octaviar's remaining funds, why hasn't WC asked ASIC to do so?

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Dear fellow Action Group Members,

In the light of the recent disastrous revelations on our fund I have drafted another urgent appeal to ASIC as an adjunct to the original submission directly to the chairman and CEO Tony D'Alosio asking for his personal intervention on our behalf.

Unfortunately their is some sensitive material in this document so I will not post. We have 37 signatures on the original submission, any investor who wishes me to append their name to this new appeal please email me on chrisaaa@iprimus.com.au

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

PIFholder said:

Mutchy,

When I spoke with WC, I was told that WC will not be taking any fees until distributions are made to investors. This to me seems to be something positive, isn't it? Afterall, WC can only make the 'substantial' fees it might want if it can return significant value to PIF, which is also good for us investors, is it not?

Click to expand...

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF
Quote:
Originally Posted by PIFholder


Mutchy,
No Mutchy WC are not doing the right thing. They are prevented from taking any fees while distributions are frozen by virtue of the PIF PDS.

Marcom's reply should have been directed to PIfHholder.

Yes you are correct.
This provides some incentive to WC to begin paying dividends as soon as possible so that they can indeed earn a fee. However for the time being they are receiving nothing for their efforts in anticipation of future returns. The potential is however for a considerable future return. i hope their return is huge because this means ours will be too.
Mutchy

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

selciper said:

I'm no fan of the ASIC crowd, but they do love trophies and the ensuing glare of publicity. I would have thought any former ambassador involved in a business crash would be worth some time spent by them in asking a few questions. Adler must know all about that.

If it really is possible for ASIC to freeze Octaviar's remaining funds, why hasn't WC asked ASIC to do so?

Click to expand...

JH probably already has BUT it has nowhere near the clout coming from an AG that hopefully will have a lot more support in the ensuing weeks. We really need to have an incoporated group that hopefully will have the ear of the media. Can you imagine if we get a program like Today Tonight (prob not Current Affair due to Packer), prime time. We give them a story as an incorporated structured group, then they can interview investors that are prepared to be interviewed with genuine hardship, these programs love that kind of story AND have a huge audience. They can help put a lot of pressure on ASIC, they will ask WHY they don't intervene if they have the power to do so. Any thoughts? These shows are always looking for stories. I am sure JH will help support this..maybe something to ask in the forums.
.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

To PIF investors on the NSW Mid-North Coast:

There is a PIF Action Group meeting organised in Port Macquarie at 11.30am Wednesday 9 July at the Port City Bowling Club on Owen Street in Port Macquarie.

If you're not a member of the PIF AG, please send an email to breaker1@aapt.net.au

Also email p.sclfrd@bigpond.net.au to let us know you'll be there, so we can cater for numbers.

Cookie1

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

65c / 45c /14c Thieves & liars!

If we take the worst case scenario of no further monies being legally recovered, Jenny is telling us that we get 45c in the dollar - this represents a shortfall in the PIF of a whopping $411.95 million (55%), based on a fund originally worth 749M. That being the PWC case, then where did this huge some of money go??


I will try and account for as many suspicious loans as I know under:

$50 M – [8] Boutique fund “Causeway’
$70 M – [1] Living & Leisure
$10.1 M [2] - Investment Enterprise (NZ fund manager)
$5.1M [3] - Sagacious (opportunity trust, fixed term investments, expire Feb. 2007)
$10M [4] – German Shopkeeper, retail assets, convenience stores
$24.3M [9] – Young Village Estates (aged care)
$2.77M [5] – SPV construction group, Baulkham Hills (Sydney)
$37.5M [6] – Ray Group (joint MFS LTD venture) – owns Sheraton, Port Douglass
$10M - [7] - Southport Holdings
$219.77M (STTL) = 29.34% of a fund valued originally @ $749M
+$180M [10] borrowed from RBOS
$399.77 TTL = 53% of the fund (close but approx 2% still unaccounted for in total shortfall)

The first question I ask is, are the above [1-7] items listed, the same items that Jenny sees as cause for the 7 loans she claims are in need of legal action to recover? Are these the loans Jenny says are of zero or no value? If so, does she mean by this, that ‘no value’ means “no recovery”, unless she takes legal action against OCV LTD and if legal action is successful, these above actually do have some value because of legal recovery? I assume it does.

Another important question still remains – where did the $180M the PIF borrowed from the RBOS go? If it wasn’t to forward on for loans to the above [9] named loans, then it could mean, it was to cover huge shortfalls in PIF income (defaulting loans/wages perhaps). If it was not for shortfalls in daily business income, then there must still be a good number more bad (junk) loans or investments still to be accounted for, over and above the [1-9] mentioned above, to a total value of approx $180M. We know that most of the $180M has been paid back (approx. $120M), which has been paid by incoming MFS PIF old clients, still paying off loans (thus reducing assets in the PIF). So it still remains, where are these other shortfalls? (In other assets or sucked up by poor business operating cost shortfalls? Probably both.)

We have in my rough guide above a need to know the exact details of the further approx. 180M to $190M and where it went? If Jenny is counting some of the above [1-9] as in the 45% (e.g. possibly Causeway “a good operator”) then there are even more assets unaccounted for.

If we are PIF investors who are going to hold back in the PIF and NOT sell on the NSX and also expected to wait 3 to 4 years, getting paid via a drip feed (quarterly) as fund assets come in, then we are going to lose big time, because of inflation eating away our capital (4 years x 4% = 16%) + 55% (based on a 45c in $ return) = 71% in real terms. If you further add to that, loss of interest (4 years x 8% = 32%) it is a total loss = 103% OF WHAT WE COULD HAVE EARNED had the fund remained viable at 100% operating redemption and continuing distributions as per normal over this same 4 years. THAT IS A BIG LOSS!! It is a tremendous argument against investors looking for an extra 1.5% over large, safer, bank, term rates. It is simply NOT worth the risk. I will never put my money in such a mutual fund company again!

The above is only a DRAFT rough idea of what I think is where our monies are in shortfall – if any other readers here can think of other loans/shortfalls towards the 55%, I will add them to my list above. This list is just my crude educated speculation, but I trust it gets some kind of perspective of what we’re dealing with. Please correct my errors - this is a work in progress.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

I would like to bring the following (edited) ASX announcements to your attention:

16/5/08
• Arctic has, subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence and documentation on terms agreeable to Arctic, agreed to purchase $63 million of LLA’s unsecured debt from PIF.
• LLA has agreed, subject to completion of formal documentation, to issue PIF in exchange for the remaining balance of its unsecured debt to LLA (approximately $7 million plus capitalised interest):
a $10 million zero interest note repayable two years after the completion of the Rights Offer;
88 million new LLA securities, to be issued following the Rights Offer; and
options to subscribe for a further 88 million new LLA securities at the Rights Offer issue price. These options will lapse if not exercised within 12 months of the close of the Rights Offer.
The issue of the securities and options to PIF is subject to LLA security holder approval which will be sought at LLA’s annual general meeting later this year.

10/6/08
RECAPITALISATION PROPOSAL UPDATE
In relation to the Recapitalisation Proposal announced on 16 May 2008, Living and Leisure Australia (LLA) advises that on Friday, 6 June 2008 Arctic Capital Limited (Arctic) confirmed to LLA, that it has conducted detailed due diligence on LLA, Living and Leisure Australia
Arctic notes that:
• it has not reached a definitive agreement with PIF in respect of the acquisition of the PIF Debt and that it still needs to obtain final settlement of the terms of, and security arrangements in respect to, the debt to be acquired

16/6/08
Replacement of Mezzanine Facility
LLA understands that agreement has been reached on the final commercial terms for:
• the replacement and reduction of the total debt owed by LLA to the Octaviar Premium Income Fund by various parties including Arctic Capital; and
• the acquisition from the Octaviar Group of Living and Leisure Australia Management Limited, the responsible entity of the Living and Leisure Australia Trust, by Arctic Capital subject to standard conditions precedent and final commercial due diligence, and expects that both acquisitions will be fully documented within the recapitalisation timetable.

2/7/08
The Living and Leisure Australia Group (LLA) has this morning requested that ASX voluntarily suspend trading in its securities while LLA continues in discussions with the underwriter of LLA’s proposed rights issue and with its lenders about its recapitalisation.
LLA expects to be able to update the market in relation to its recapitalisation process by Friday, 4 July 2008.

It appears the wheels are well & truly in motion and by the time the meeting in Brisbane takes place we may be well & truly screwed.
Where the hell is ASIC?
Probably sitting on their butt as usual, drinking coffee!

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Just wanted to share this article from the Gold Coast Bulletin today

PIF's investors could get just 14c in dollar

Nick Nichols
03Jul08
INVESTORS who have poured $770 million into the Premium Income Fund yesterday were 'gutted' by the news that they could receive as little as 14c in the dollar if the fund was forced into liquidation.
An update from Jenny Hutson's Wellington Capital, being issued to 11,000 investors today, has alerted investors to three possible scenarios which, at best, would see them lose 35 per cent of their money.
The best outcome, which would involve the Premium Income Fund (PIF) recovering all of the $147.5 million it is claiming from struggling Gold Coast company Octaviar, would value the fund's $1 units at 65c each if PIF were to remain a going concern.
But Ms Hutson last night said that, given time, said she was confident of recovering all of the $770 million owed to investors and there were plans to resume paying distributions in October with a total of 3c per unit to be paid by Christmas.
Investors have not seen a cent from the fund since February, after which distributions stopped and redemptions were frozen for 360 days.
Ms Hutson said the value of PIF units at present stood at 45c 'plus whatever we can recover from MFS'.
Liquidation of the fund would slash that return to just 14c, but Ms Hutson, the former chairperson of Chris Scott's tourism group S8, said that she was hopeful unitholders would back Wellington Capital's efforts to rebuild PIF's value.
"I would not be here if I didn't think I could return everybody's full dollar and I think it's a three- to five-year program to get a full return of capital," she said.
"The S8 experience for me was a fabulous one. We took $1 and turned it into $16 in five years.
"I'd like to take 45c and turn it back into $1 as quickly as I can, and then move beyond that."
Wellington Capital, which assumed control of the fund in May, last month launched a Supreme Court of Queensland action to recover $147.5 million lent last year to Octaviar, which was then known as MFS.
Wellington has questioned the propriety of the loans and it is still seeking a $50 million guarantee for the funds from Octaviar.
The action is one of several being brought against Octaviar, which now faces creditors' claims of more than $1 billion, threatening the company's survival.
Ms Hutson said PIF had reduced debt from $100 million to $55 million since Wellington Capital had assumed control.
A $63 million payout from the recapitalisation of former MFS offshoot Living and Leisure Australia, which is expected to be detailed tomorrow, will wipe out that debt.
Ms Hutson said this had been 'the toughest year in 10 years in finance and property'.
"We have to put ourselves in the best position to ride out the market issues."
One investor, Lismore's Geoff Hobbs who has $880,000 invested in PIF, last night said he was not confident the fund could recover lost funds without embarking on 'risky' investments.
"No one has any confidence any more," he said.
Online investor forums have described the potential outcome of 14c in the dollar as not credible in light of the assumption that units were worth 45c if the fund remained a going concern.
Others have said they were 'gutted' by the prospect of receiving just 45c in the dollar.
However, Mr Hobbs said he would attend one of the planned meetings of PIF unit-holders next week before firming his opinion of Wellington Capital's proposals.
The meetings organised by Wellington are expected to draw a total of 4000 investors, kicking off with Brisbane on Monday.
About 600 are expected when the roadshow hits the Gold Coast next Thursday.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Breaker

I was told by Stephen Hart from PIF that the 180M from the RBOS was on top of the 770M value of the fund in December (He told me that the fund was worth approx 950M in December), which makes there figures even more unrealistic

We really need to demand details on what these cents in the $ values are based on, to me they are playing games and these estimates are a load of crap.

Like I said yesterday, I went through the Fincorp debacle and perceive that as far worse than this and to date we have recovered 57 cents in the dollar

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Good morning all PIF holders, I have been away for a few days and am trying to digest the figures that have been released during this time. If these figures are correct, (why wouldn't they be, Korda Mentha has been employed for months, Wellington Capital was meant to be doing due diligence and Price Waterhouse Coopers has also been sniffing around) it is beyond doubt that gross misappropriations with the loans have occured!!! The previous MFSIM has FRAUDULENTLY and CRIMINALY used our money. It is these people we need to pursue, please don't lose sight of who committed the crimes!! There are many reasons to be extremely angry with regarding the PIF but just because the true state of affairs is slowly being revealed (at last)does not mean that those releasing the information are responsible. The lies and absolute BS that was being fed to holders from Jan onwards had nothing to do with Chris Scott or Jenny Hutson. I will post below part of a MFSIM adviser update from Feb 8th this year::::::MFS Premium Income Fund – related party investments
We have provided the following questions on the Fund’s related party investments; these reflect some of the matters that have caught the attention of the
press in recent days. MFSIM’s response to each of these questions follows.
1. Can you clarify Related Party exposure?
PIF has 17% exposure to MFS related entities. This comprises almost 5% in units in listed property trusts MFS Diversifi ed Trust (3.7%) and MFS Living &
Leisure Trust (0.3%) and units in two unlisted MFS property trusts (0.6%). The holdings in MFS Diversifi ed Trust and MFS Living & Leisure are marked at
their last traded price. The remaining 12% is in secured corporate debt pools of MFS Causeway and MFS Living & Leisure and MFS Pacifi c Finance (NZ)
unsecured notes.


MFSIM - ADVISER UPDATE 5 FEBRUARY 2008
2. Why do you regard MFS Diversifi ed and MFS Living and Leisure as appropriate investments for the Premium Income Fund?
Both MFS Diversifi ed and MFS Living & Leisure unit holdings form a part of the property trust sector of the Premium Income Fund. They were purchased
for their excellent diversification and income yields which met the Fund’s investment guidelines. These securities continue to meet the investment
criteria required for the Fund.
3. Have all the related party loans been disclosed?
Yes. PIF has almost 17% of assets in related party assets, being funds managed, but not controlled by MFS Group companies. PIF is prohibited from
making loans directly to MFS Limited, its wholly owned subsidiaries, or its Directors.
4. Are there any improper loans in PIF?
All loans and assets in PIF have met the strict criteria set by the Investment Approval Committee.
5. “The MFS Premium Income Fund has been a big investor in the MFS Living & Leisure Trust which has seen its units plunge from $1 to 36c since November,
although it has been suspended for over a week”
PIF owns units in MFS Living & Leisure (MPY), which represent only 0.3% of the fund.
6. According to the PIF annual report (page 54) ‘fair value of investment’ for MFS Living and Leisure was $8.3m and interest held was 4.72%. Has the unit
holding and value changed since then? What is it now? Is the 4.72% interest held the % of PIF FUM or MPY units on issue?
There has been no change to the number of units in MFS Living & Leisure that PIF holds.
4.72% is the percentage of MFS Living and Leisure units on issue and not a percentage of PIF.
7. Please clarify the question of repayment of the loan to MFS Living and Leisure that is due to mature on 31 March 2008. (Guy Hutchings was quoted as
saying that the loan is expected to be repaid).
Yes, that is correct. Full payment is expected on or before 31 March 2008.
8. What action is the Board of MFS Investment Management Limited taking to limit the period during which processing and payment of redemptions has
been deferred?
Immediately following the announcement on 29 January MFSIM commenced an orderly realisation of the liquid assets held in the Fund. These assets
include cash holdings in bank deposits and other liquid investments. The Fund has a number of loans maturing shortly and when these funds are
combined with the funds gathered from liquidation of the other liquid assets, cash holdings are expected to grow quickly. Readers will appreciate that
MFSIM will wish to commence repayment of redemption requests as early as possible to avoid the dilution effect of large cash holdings on investor
returns.
In earlier correspondence the Board of MFSIM has clearly stated its expectation to resume payment of redemptions well before expiry of the 180-day
deferment period.::::::::::What really worries me is that the MFSIM chief executive officer Guy Hutchings and Marilyn Watts are still associated with the PIF!!!!In my opinion they have proved that they are incompetant!!! In May 2007 Guy Hutchings was appointed to oversee the continued performance and growth of the PIF and other MFSIM managed funds. The Fund had provided consistant returns for 7 years prior to his appointment.Does anyone think for one moment that someone with 20 years investment management experience behind them DID NOT KNOW what was going on?!!!! I am also under the understanding that management fees will not be paid from the PIF while target rate of returns are not being met. While I am yet to be convinced that listing on the NSX will be of any benefit to holders, I do believe that Jenny Hutson in all probability will be working to the best of her ability to achieve the highest maximum outcome for the PIF. (I have yet to find any reference to her or Wellington Capitals incompetence)I also believe that it is in the best possible interest of the PIF to become an Incorporated Body AND have someone(a lawyer maybe?) who has power of attorney on behalf of the PIF. I would hope that both Chris Scott and Jenny Hutson would have just as much motivation as PIF holders to nail butts to cell seats!!!! Sorry if this is long winded! Seamisty

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Seamisty, it does make us wonder what is ASIC's role all about? Why do we have corporation laws? I believe in a free market, and yes we did reap the benefits for the last 10 years, but these loses are NOT market related, we have had our investments plundered illegally. So where is the Law?

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

k.smith said:

Seamisty, it does make us wonder what is ASIC's role all about? Why do we have corporation laws? I believe in a free market, and yes we did reap the benefits for the last 10 years, but these loses are NOT market related, we have had our investments plundered illegally. So where is the Law?

Click to expand...

I agree k.smith and Jadel and myself have hounded ASIC consistantly since April!!!We have made sure that they receive all relevant information to the PIF as it becomes available and Jadel has written many letters, had personal meetings and followed up continuously with phone calls and e-mails. Not just with ASIC, but with Nick Sherry and others. Rocky is right, we need TV coverage to shame them into action!! I would also think there is a case for the Fraud Squad to be involved, if ever anyone is guilty of Corporate dishonesty, in my opiniom Mickael King is a prime candidate. Seamisty

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

For those that aren’t clear on Perpetuals role (which I wasn’t). They are the custodian which is different to a trustee. They hold the registers for the PIF and do what they are told by the RE. They are not involved in approving loans etc.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Hi Seamisty

Going back to an earlier post about not shooting the messenger you are correct they did not create this mess.

It may prove that WC is the best group for the job but representatives of the AG must have the right to inspect the books and get to fully understand the position and what is required to maximise the return. If need be down to the last $1.

I also think in the end the existing RE is so compromised that an replacement RE must be put in place which could be the other WC RE or third party.

In relation to the guarantee of $50 million you would think that the guarantee trigger has been pulled and its due and payable now by OCV. It is now a debt and changing RE now doesnt make debt disappear. Thats a good question for a lawyer.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Dear fellow members

We would be absolutely crazy to accept what Jenny Hutson is telling us at this time. She has her own vested commercial interests, like listing on the God forsaken NSX at a huge discount for somebody that can accumulate these units at a bargain basement price

She will give some poor souls the loaded pistol (NSX)they don’t have to shoot themselves of course but if they decide to take that option, it’s not her fault

And Rocky you are entirely correct

Valuations given by new fund managers with their own agenda in these situations are not worth a roll of toilet paper

I have a brother in law , highly placed in the Valuation Industry and it is all based on the sentiment expressed to him by the prevailing managers, often in no uncertain terms ,If he wants to keep permanently employed and feed the kids he has little choice in the matter , You could get a range in valuation of anywhere between 30% To 50% in these cases


AND HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER, PLAYS THE TUNE



That is why we need to desperately get the ball rolling and get a committee with Power of Attorney and an Incorporated body to get quotes from our own Independent Valuers to determine with transparency and honestly exactly what our assets are worth

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

marcom said:

Duped, there is a Labor Government in power - ASIC and other relevant state and federal bodies will be just waiting to get political mileage out of thrashing "the suntaned one " and the Liberal heartland in Victoria in the media. There was some press when MFS started to implode to the effect that Peacock's son in law Michael Krouger - Victorian Head of the Liberal Party - that he had cautioned Peacock not to take the MFS Chairmanship as he would regret it in the long term. Michael was right!

Click to expand...

I forgot about AP being daddy in law. Even more reason for ASIC not to move. Labour may be the ASIC pay master for the time being but ...

I know Labour is in government. They'll get political mileage without ASIC help. At 65/45c MFS IM has already wiped $264M/$415M of PIF investors savings + $28M lost income to date. Add to that the losses by MFS Ltd/OCV shareholders and the current shortfall between OCV's assets and the claims against it and the losses under AP's guidance are easily over the attention grabbing magic $ BILLION level.

We're on our own so let's all back the AG. We may be able to take our own legal action. IMF and their legal muscle (Slater & Gordon etc) are not available because they're spruiking to back OCV shareholders. We might be able to collectively accumulate a fighting fund or market ourselves for some pro-bono work.

And forget having a go at the auditors. They're the UNTOUCHABLES.

What I also want to know is when distributions recommence, how will they be calculated? 7/8/9% of $1 per unit or 7/8/9% of 65cents per unit.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Duped said:

What I also want to know is when distributions recommence, how will they be calculated? 7/8/9% of $1 per unit or 7/8/9% of 65cents per unit.

Click to expand...

Not sure if this answers your questions:

But Ms Hutson last night said that, given time, said she was confident of recovering all of the $770 million owed to investors and there were plans to resume paying distributions in October with a total of 3c per unit to be paid by Christmas.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Extract from today's SMH.

Interesting to see that Perpetual have chosen to act on behalf of their retail investors in this case.

Also possibly a lesson in "do not invest in anything that has a former politician involved"


The trials and tribulations of the good Doctor John
Ian Verrender
July 3, 2008

The onetime prime ministerial hopeful John Hewson seems to be having his very own Oscar Wilde experience.

With the imminent demise of yet another of his former companies yesterday, Hewson - to paraphrase Lady Bracknell - appears to be suffering from something slightly more than simple misfortune.

Elderslie Finance, of which the good Doctor John was executive chairman until his resignation in June, was yesterday handed over to PricewaterhouseCoopers, after the Federal Court decided it was insolvent.

Hewson was no bit player in this corporate disaster. He was executive chairman.

Most of the troubles appear to relate to $67 million that was lent upstream to Elderslie's parent, Hotel Nominees, which was then invested in real estate and equities, and we all know what has happened in those markets during the past year or so.

It was Perpetual Trustees that took the action against Elderslie - a financier and leasing company - on behalf of 3000 retail investors who had lent the company $148 million in the form of secured debentures.

The problems with Elderslie did not become apparent until February this year when new disclosure requirements - following the collapse last year of a raft of companies like Westpoint and Fincorp - forced all finance companies to issue new prospectuses.

Perpetual took immediate action.

It appointed PWC to trawl through the books. What it found was not pleasant, but Perpetual agreed to hold off because Elderslie was put on the market and some potential new owners were looking to inject money into the ailing business.

But the sale fell through and in early June Perpetual decided the business could no longer operate as a going concern.

Hewson appears to have come to a similar conclusion around the same time and, as a self-appointed champion of good corporate governance, resigned his position.

This is not Hewson's first brush with corporate difficulty.

Last November, he quit as chairman of Natural Fuel - a biodiesel company - after a disagreement with major shareholders following a plunge in the company's share price, citing corporate governance concerns.

Despite soaring global energy prices, Natural Fuel's share price has been on a downward trajectory since it listed in late 2006 - recently trading at about 10c from its $1.50 issue price.

It is often difficult for politicians to adapt to the rigours of corporate life. Just ask Andrew Peacock, who recently stepped aside as chairman of the Gold Coast finance group MFS - now known as Octaviar - which has been suspended from trading since January and which essentially is in the hands of its bankers.

But Hewson has experienced more than his fair share of troubles.

One of the worst was as the founding chairman of Network Entertainment. In 1996, Hewson helped the company raise $12 million from the public.

Unfortunately, the company was placed into administration after just seven months. Its share price headed south almost from day one, which, given it issued its first profit warning just weeks after listing, was not surprising.

Before it collapsed, it issued another two profit warnings, which prompted the corporate regulator to open an investigation into the disclosures the company made in it prospectus. No action was taken.

Hewson resigned as chairman shortly before the collapse, citing irreconcilable differences with senior management.

His next corporate outing, in 2000, as chairman of the dotcom hopeful CBD Online met a similar fate. Less than a year after his appointment, Hewson quit, following what he said were "fundamental disagreements with the direction the company was heading". That direction appears to have been towards oblivion.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Hey folks,

Let us not get distracted by politics! I think speculating on that is a waste of energy and achieves nothing.

My suggestion is that we all email,call, write to our respective elected members of parliament and request that they put pressure on ASIC to get off their bum and start protecting the interest of investors. Collectively we can get things moving. Politicians are very sensitive if enough constituents apply appropriate pressure.

Re: Octaviar MFS Premium Income Fund PIF

Is it a fact that only ASIC can bring any possible charges against individuals
managing a Fund who are suspected of gross negligence by its investors?
Are there no other avenues available to chase down any persons suspected of corporate misbehaviour involving huge sums of money? A thief stealing a wallet containing fifty dollars is usually apprehended and quickly charged. If hundreds of millions are nicked from thousands of people, it's apparently a lot less important. We need legal advice on paths that may be open to us apart from ASIC..

Breaker1's outline is really worrying. After all, OCV are virtually broke, aren't they? Can it be that OCV are presently propped up by PIF moneys? It's getting too complicated for me to follow.