Citigroup’s ASTA and MAT Funds

The Meissner firm is currently investigating the sale of ASTA and MAT funds to investors by Citigroup through the use of fraudulent misrepresentations. THE ASTA and MAT funds, which consist of six hedge funds that were sold by Citigroup, have lost more than 90% of their value to date as a result of the recent credit crisis. Citigroup promoted these investments as safe and conservative investments – alternatives to traditional bond funds that were designed to produce tax-advantages and reliable cash flows. Moreover, investors would be exposed to minimal risks. In actuality, Citigroup took on a risky investing strategy known as municipal bond arbitrage, which involved borrowing approximately $8 for every $1 raised and collected millions of dollars in fees and unexplained commissions in the process.
Despite the dramatic decline in these investments, Citigroup management and Reaz Islam, the manager of the funds, continued to promote these products to their clients, providing assurances that these products would rebound in value.
Citigroup’s brokers sold and promoted ASTA and MAT as investment funds which were “safe” and ideal for conservative retirees as they would provide guaranteed income, a pitch which attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from clients and ultimately led to those clients suffering financial ruin as a result of such misrepresentations. If you were a victim of such impropriety and have sustained substantial losses by investing in these funds, please contact the Meissner firm, which is nationally known for its record win statistics in FINRA Arbitration, for a free consultation.