Texas Securities Fraud?: Death of Private Wealth Manager with Invesco Ltd. Reveals that Millions of Dollars May Be Missing

The passing of S. Mark Powell, who runs Invesco Ltd.’s (IVZ) Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management, has exposed the vulnerabilities of some of the wealthiest members of Texas’s investment community. Powell was found dead in May, and, since then, investors have been stepping forward to say they lent him millions of dollars, some of which seem to have disappeared.

A spokesperson for Invesco issued a statement after Powell’s passing saying that the company now knows about “unusual transactions” that the fund manager seems to have been involved in outside his work with the fund management company, and it has notified the authorities of the possible Texas securities fraud. However, Invesco says that it has no reason to think that its clients’ accounts were impacted.

The Wall Street Journal says that a number of wealthy Texas investors have said that they know of dozens of others like them that had entrusted Powell to invest their money. Powell reportedly offered different kinds of private ventures while offering large guaranteed returns. One downside of investing in such ventures is that they can come with some significant risks. Investors in Dallas, Austin, Houston, and other Texas cities may be affected. Please contact our Texas securities lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD, LLP to request your free case evaluation.

Atlantic Trust, which Powell ran, manages approximately $22 billion assets for investors in 12 American cities. Per recent financial results, at the end of March 2013, its owner Invesco was in possession of approximately $729 billion assets under management. Atlantic Trust, which is being sold to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, works with foundations, individuals that are affluent, and endowments. Clients need to have no less than $5 million of assets under management.

Powell, who lived in West Austin, was a board member for several charities, including the First Tee of Greater Austin and the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas. He also was a member of a number of golf clubs. Previous jobs included serving as a Morgan Keegan & Co. managing director.

At SSEK, we are a Texas securities law firm that represents investors in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and cities throughout the state. Our clients are both institutional investors and individual investors who have sustained financial losses because of inappropriate and improper recommendations, misconduct, criminal securities fraud, negligence, inadequate supervision, misrepresentations and omissions, and other types of securities fraud. Do not hesitate to reach out to us if Mr. Powell handled your investments and you are questioning why you sustained related financial losses. Also, it is the responsibility of financial service companies to properly supervise their representatives and employees to make sure they refrain from wrongdoing.

Manager’s Death Shakes Texas Investors, The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2013

Austin financial adviser’s death sparks inquiry into loans he solicited from wealthy investors, My Statesman, May 28, 2013

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Ponzi Scam Result in SEC Charges For Two Dallas-Based Broker-Dealers, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, June 18, 2013

Texas Federal Agents Pursue Largest Forfeiture Cases To Date, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, June 8, 2013
Two Oppenheimer Investment Advisers Settle for Over $2.8M SEC Fraud Charges Over Private Equity Fund, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, March 14, 2013