Outside counsel retained StoneTurn as part of an SEC inquiry to analyze a mortgage-backed security bond fund with respect to the pricing of certain “odd lot” positions purchased and held by the fund. The SEC alleged that odd lots of securities, which were defined as having a face value of less than $1 million, were being purchased at a discount to regular lots, but valued as part of the fund’s net assets at regular lot prices, potentially resulting in an overstatement of returns.
StoneTurn’s work consisted of compiling information in response to the SEC subpoena, determining average pricing variances between odd and regular lots for each security held, and creating visual models that demonstrated the relative impact of odd lot pricing on the fund’s performance.