Mortgage investor Premium Point discloses SEC probe

By Lawrence Delevingne

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Premium Point Investments LP is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the valuation of structured products and other assets held by its funds, according to a letter sent to clients of the New York-based investment firm.

A spokesman for Premium Point, which specializes in mortgage-related investments via hedge and private equity funds, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the SEC declined to comment.

The letter, sent Feb. 9 and seen by Reuters, from founder Anilesh Ahuja also apologized for the continued delay in the delivery of an audited financial statement for 2015.

It further said that Premium Point’s chief financial officer, Michael Mercer, resigned on Jan. 6. Management firm Alvarez and Marsal was hired to perform related duties, the letter said. Mercer became CFO in April 2016.

IFR reported in August that Premium Point had sold a $6.2 billion mortgage bond portfolio, the largest sale of its kind in nearly two years (Read more here: http://reut.rs/2lHblbD)

Premium Point managed $4.5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The figure includes leverage, or borrowed money, which can inflate the figure.

Ahuja founded Premium Point in 2008 after serving as the head of the mortgage-backed securities group at Deutsche Bank AG from 2004 to 2008.

(Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Alan Crosby)