Introducing NCPERS Securities Fraud Recovery Services

• By: admin
• On: 06/27/2023 12:24:34
• In: News
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By: Hank Kim, Executive Director and Counsel, NCPERS

This article was originally featured in the July 2023 issue of The Monitor.

Securities losses due to fraud are assets of public plans, and it is the duty of plan fiduciaries to recover those assets. However, the field of securities litigation is complex and even the largest and most sophisticated public plans seek help to evaluate whether to pursue legal action and in what manner.

To help our smaller public plan members get a similar kind of objective advice, we have partnered with DIVIDEX Management, LLC to create a new member benefit: NCPERS Securities Fraud Recovery Services.

Designed after months of conversations and evaluations with a focus group composed of five target public pensions, NCPERS Securities Fraud Recovery Services was created to help our pension fund members make more informed decisions as to when and how to take action regarding opportunities to recover securities fraud losses with minimal in-house staff time spent doing so.

"We are honored to be working with NCPERS to provide public pension funds this first-of-its-kind set of securities fraud recovery consulting services,” said Irwin Schwartz, President and managing member of DIVIDEX Management, LLC. “We look forward to helping pilot project participants improve their abilities to find, track and manage their securities fraud recoveries,” he added.

About NCPERS Securities Fraud Recovery Services

The year-long pilot program begins July 1, 2023 and is open to the first 25 public pension funds members that enroll at no cost. In order to be eligible, the fund must 1) be a pension fund in good standing with NCPERS and 2) have $30 billion AUM or less; or have annual average securities litigation recoveries of less than $2.5 million. The base level of services is available to enrolled members at no cost, with optional services available for nominal fees. Sign up here to enroll.

Participating pension funds will receive:

• Up to three free consultations where, upon request, DIVIDEX Management will help your fund evaluate whether it makes financial sense to pursue a domestic or foreign securities fraud recovery opportunity. Such an evaluation may include a loss analysis and prudence of serving as lead plaintiff or opting-out of domestic class action cases, or joining in foreign cases. Additional evaluation services are available for a fee of $500 per consultation case.

• Free monthly reports including information on foreign securities fraud recovery opportunities; claims filing deadlines for select class action settlements; and payouts from select large class action settlements.

• Reconciliation services to analyze the efficacy of their securities class action settlement claims filings and recoveries on selected cases. For this service, participating funds will provide DIVIDEX Management with the subject securities transactions and holdings data. In the event a fund elects to receive a Settlement Recovery Evaluation, the cost will be $100 per case, payable directly to DIVIDEX Management.

Participating members may also elect to have DIVIDEX Management provide Foreign Assistance Services—negotiating retention, joinder and litigation funding agreements on behalf of the pension fund—at a cost per filed case of $5,000.
To enroll in the pilot program, please complete this form. You can learn more and find answers to frequently asked questions here.

NCPERS Securities Fraud Recovery Services is another example of how we're seeking to provide value to our member mid- and small-market plans that may not have the resources to address the operational and fiduciary challenges they face each day. As the largest trade association for public pensions, NCPERS continues to expand and evolve its member benefits to help bridge those gaps and meet the growing needs of public pensions and industry stakeholders.

If you have any questions or comments about this new program, please don't hesitate to reach out to membership@ncpers.org.