Report: Tremont to auction off remaining hedge fund assets to pay investors

Tremont Group Holdings Inc., which lost more than $3 billion in the Bernard Madoff scam, will auction off its remaining hedge fund assets in an attempt to pay its investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rye, N.Y.-based Tremont will sell off a total of $400 million in hedge fund holdings on the secondary market through an auction, with about $180 million of that amount to be sold off by October, insiders told the paper. New York-based investment bank Duff & Phelps Corp. will act as an independent broker in the auction and will receive a flat fee for its efforts, the insiders said. The auction will give Tremont’s investors a chance to recoup some of their dollars, and it will also let the fund close out its holdings. However, since the assets are being sold off on the secondary market and are considered distressed, the investors will probably get less than what the holdings are actually worth, according to the report. Tremont spokesman Montieth Illingworth said that the firm had no comment. A call to Marty Dauer, managing director at Duff & Phelps, wasn’t immediately returned.