Monday, January 12, 2009

Madoff's Oil and Gas Company- Six (Two) Degrees of Separation
Here is an article from Bloomberg. Bernie Madoff's two sons and niece started an oil and gas exploration company in 2007, Madoff Energy, LLC. I can't find anymore information on the energy company, but this seems like the type of firm that would raise capital through independent broker / dealers. When this scandal first came out it seemed limited in nature. But the more news that's revealed the narrower the degrees of separation to other financial firms. Through Tremont, Madoff's second largest feeder fund, the degree of separation is one or two for many independent broker / dealers. Tremont had widely distributed funds-of-funds, and it was owned by insurance giant MassMutal that also owns OppenheimerFunds. If Madoff Energy raised money through independent broker / dealers, the exposure will grow. This story just keeps getting interesting while the degrees of separation get smaller.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Oil and Gas, any opinion on Provident Asset Management's suspension of all Shale Royalties payments to investors?

Rational Realist said...

I have seen several emails on Provident in the past week, but had not heard of it before. I have been crafting a post on the entire oil and gas syndication business. The returns have been dismal, the costs too high and way too much affiliated, non-arms' length deals. Provident will not be the only company cutting distributions.