Planner denies Trio Capital kickbacks

No brokerage incentives

By Alice Uribe
Thu 28 Jan 2010

As the ASIC and APRA investigations continue, a South Australian financial planning group denies any kickbacks from Trio Capital.

A South Australian financial planning group has denied allegations it has received financial incentives for investing clients' money in Trio Capital funds.

The South Australian-based Seagrims Accountants and Financial Planners (Seagrims) founder Peter Seagrim said claims by some Port Augusta-based financial advisers that the firm was "receiving obscene brokerage incentives" were untrue.

"We didn't receive brokerage incentives and we actually didn't charge anyone any money for going into this product, except for new clients who we would normally charge around 1 per cent," Seagrim said.

He said his planning group had approached Trio Capital to strike a deal regarding product development.

"We badged it [the fund] because it was a very unique product in the marketplace in the discretionary way they reacted to asset allocation," he said.

"We thought it was a better product for our clients and it was the number one performing fund in Australia, so at the time you would think, why wouldn't you want it?"

Seagrims eventually placed more than $100 million in a variety of Trio's (formerly Astarra Asset Management) managed investment schemes.

Of this, Seagrim confirmed that up to 10 per cent or around $7 million was invested in the Astarra Asset Management Alpha Strategic Fund.

The fund is currently under investigation by ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

ASIC and APRA have not yet released any information on the whereabouts of the assets in this fund, which is believed to around $118 million.

Media reports said the fund had entered an arrangement with British Virgin Islands-based EMA International last year.

Last week, Trio Capital administrator and PPB partner Mark Robinson told The Age that "investigations had been hampered by poor records that were not the accounting records you would expect from a slick tier-one operator".

Despite the lack of information about the fund Seagrim remained confident the assets would be located.

"Trio Capital assured us that the funds that we originally placed into this investment were there and there's nothing to suggest that they aren't there. At the moment the right approach to find them hasn't been made and our organisation believes that we have the ability to make the right approach to get an outcome," he said.

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