Trade-worker funds can’t recover Madoff losses

A group of pension, health-care and benefit funds for bricklayers, construction workers, electrical workers and other tradesmen will not be eligible to recover money lost to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, a federal appeals court has said. The trade-worker funds had invested in a pair of feeder funds which in turn invested in hedge funds which in turn invested in Madoff’s firm. When Madoff’s scheme collapsed, it took every one of its investors with it. For these trade-worker funds, however, they were so far removed from directly investing in Madoff that were deemed not be Madoff customers, even though Madoff’s collapse hurt them as well. Moral: Know who you are investing in.