00-2703, 01-1685 Wsol, et al. v. Fiduciary Management Associates, Inc., et al.

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“[T]he district judge found as a fact that what the fund got for its 6 cents per share was as good as what it could have bought in a market free of kickbacks and undue influence and that her finding is not clearly erroneous on the record compiled at trial, even as supplemented by the additional evidence that the plaintiffs presented in their Rule 60(b) motion. Despite the disreputable character of East West and the scandalous provenance of its relationship with FMA, the fund received best execution at the same cost that it would have incurred had FMA hired a choir of heavenly angels as introducing brokers or had dealt directly with the executing brokers; and while 4 cents per share seems a stiff price to pay for best execution, it is the standard price and there is no proof that FMA could have gotten a lower price by using an introducing broker other than East West. Although it is conceivable that FMA received less valuable investment advice from East West than it would have from a reputable introducing broker and as a result made poorer investments for the fund, the district judge found the contrary and her finding is not clearly erroneous. So far as appears, FMA’s investment performance was as good as it would have been had East West never entered the picture.”

Affirmed.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Conlon, J., Posner, J.