Oppenheimer Obscured Stealing Student Savings

So much for going to college, 'eh, kiddo?

Hey, the kid can always join the military, right?

"OppenheimerFunds under scrutiny" by Bloomberg News | April 8, 2009

OppenheimerFunds Inc., a unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., is under scrutiny by attorneys general in five states for investment losses in college-savings accounts that used its bond funds.

Officials in Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas began last month to jointly explore whether OppenheimerFunds violated its fiduciary duty to investors in the so-called 529 plans, said Scott Burnham, a spokesman for Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Investors lost $85 million last year in Illinois-sponsored accounts run by the firm, whose managers bought mortgage-linked securities before prices plunged along with residential real estate.

Okay:

"Parents are stunned because Oppenheimer didn't tell them that they would be exposed to the riskiest part of the bond market," said Derek Loeser, an attorney with Keller Rohrback LLP in Seattle.

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Related: Sweet Salle Mae Back in United States

"Oregon sues over college fund loss" by Bloomberg News | April 14, 2009

OppenheimerFunds Inc. was sued by the state of Oregon for costing college-savings plan participants at least $36.2 million because of "plainly inappropriate" bond investments.

OppenheimerFunds misrepresented the risk of its Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund, leading to losses in what were intended to be conservative bond investments, Oregon Treasurer Ben Westlund and Attorney General John Kroger said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. OppenheimerFunds, based in New York, is the investment manager of two college-saving programs sponsored by the state. OppenheimerFunds is a unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

The suit alleges violations of Oregon securities law, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation. It claims OppenheimerFunds changed the investment focus of the Core Bond Fund in 2007, increasing its risk without telling the state or investors.

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As for my allegedly liberal state: Whose Paying For College?