Suit filed against OppenheimerFunds

OppenheimerFunds Inc. is facing what may be the first of many arbitration claims over losses in its Champion Income Fund. A claim filed Wednesday against Oppenheimer Investor Services Inc. of New York claims that two elderly investors, Ruth and Melvin Bruder of Lauderhill, Fla., lost $125,000 in the fund. Andrew Stoltmann, a plaintiff's attorney at The Stoltmann Law Offices PC in Chicago, who filed the case on behalf of Daniel Bruder, a trustee for his parents, said the case is the first one filed against Oppenheimer for losses stemming from a collapse in the price of the high-yielding bond fund. The suit claims the fund, which lost about 55% in November alone, was misrepresented to investors. It says the former portfolio manager, Angelo Manioudakis, who is also named in the suit, concentrated the fund in illiquid mortgage securities and credit default swaps. Mr. Stoltmann said he plans to file about 20 more cases against Oppenheimer. Jeaneen Pisarra, a spokeswoman for OppenheimerFunds, declined to comment.