Reuters – Massachusetts’ top securities regulator on Monday charged a hedge fund manager, who promised to earn as much as 20 percent for his clients, with improperly soliciting investors. <\/p>\n
William Galvin, the state’s secretary of the commonwealth, said Michael Regan did not check whether investors in his River Stream fund were wealthy enough to legally invest with him.<\/p>\n
Galvin’s office also found documents that suggest most of the money clients entrusted to Regan may be lost.<\/p>\n
Decades-old rules designed to protect less affluent investors from putting their savings into loosely regulated hedge funds require fund managers to make sure that all of their investors meet a minimum net-worth requirement.<\/p>\n
Regan could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
Investigators found River Stream client data thrown into a dumpster near an empty office where Regan said he worked.<\/p>\n
The money manager wooed friends and social contacts with false Ivy League credentials and promises of healthy returns between 10 percent and 20 percent a year. He claimed to have an MBA in Finance from Columbia University which he did not earn, Galvin’s office said. <\/p>\n