Canadian Investors File Lawsuit Against Market-Timing Fund Firms

Five Canadian investors have filed a class-action lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court against five mutual fund companies that settled over market-timing, claiming they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in additional damages. The five investment firms—IG Investment Management, CI Investments, Franklin Templeton, AGF Investments and AIC—settled with regulators for a total of $205.6 million in restitution.

As one of the plaintiffs told The Globe and Mail, “It’s unethical. These market timers made a lot of money using my funds.” And one of the lawyers representing the case, Joel Rochon of Rochon Genova, said, “The case potentially represents the largest breach of trust in Canadian history from a financial perspective. We are seeking to recover the actual harm suffered by unitholders in these funds. We believe that as much as several hundred millions of dollars remains unpaid.”

Eric Zitzewitz, a Dartmouth College economics professor, submitted an affidavit indicating the actual losses Canadian investors suffered ranges between $330 million and $831 million, depending on a variety of calculations. The professor said market-timing cases in the U.S. paid investors of 56 cents, versus restitution of 27 cents in Canada.

The fund companies declined to comment, other to say that they plan to defend themselves.