UK Local Authorities missing out on £200m
29 October 2008, 2:56 pmUK Local Authority pension funds have left £200 million on the table through non-participation in US securities class actions, according to the GOAL Group.
The class actions services specialist conducted a report which showed that this huge amount of money was neglected between 2000 and 2007. With average settlements hitting heights of £54 million, and securities actions filings on the rise, GOAL believes investors and fund managers should be claiming their slice of the agreements.
“It is important that local authorities do not ignore their legal right to claim damages through class actions in the US courts,“ explained Stephen Everard, managing director at the GOAL Group. “There are substantial amounts of money on the table for those authorities who participate in collective lawsuits. Some of our local authority customers have already received sizeable payouts from cases against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for instance.”
Everard added that the Northern Ireland Local Governmental Officers Superannuation Committee, along with other pension funds, is currently leading the group of global pension funds in a US class action lawsuit against Lehman Brothers.
“Participating in class actions is increasingly viewed as part of fund managers’ responsibility to ensure that they are actively fulfilling their fiduciary duty to shareholders. Shareholder litigation, where appropriate, is an effective tool to protect the long-term interests of a fund,” he concluded.
Sophie Baker
