Investors Overseas Service

Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) was founded in 1955 by financier Bernard Cornfeld.[1][2] The company was incorporated outside the United States with funds in Canada and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

In the 1960s, the company employed 25,000 people who sold 18 different mutual funds door-to-door all over Europe, operating mostly in Germany with small investors. The company mainly targeted American expatriates and U.S. servicemen who sought to avoid paying income tax. The mutual fund offerings by the company were called “people’s capitalism” by founder Cornfeld.

In the following decade, the company raised $2.5 billion, due in part to its “Fund of Funds”, which meant investment in shares of other IOS offerings. The offering was very popular in the bull market times, but then the market dropped and the guaranteed dividends had to be paid straight out of the capital—in effect, making it a pyramid scheme. IOS was forced into an Initial Public Offering to meet its costs. The next bear market made many investors cash their funds as stock value decreased.

Share value decreased from $18 to $12 in the spring of 1970. Cornfeld formed an investment pool with some other investors, but they lost when the share value dropped to $2. Even IOS employees and portfolio managers sold their shares by this time.

Financier Robert Vesco who, at the time, was also in financial trouble, turned to Cornfeld and offered his help.[3][4] Vesco proceeded to use $500 million worth of IOS money to cover his own investments in his International Controls Corporation. When he was discovered, Vesco fled to Costa Rica. IOS then collapsed and in the process ruined a number of US and European banks.

References
  1. Henriques, Diana B. "Bernard Cornfeld, 67, Dies; Led Flamboyant Mutual Fund" Archived 2016-05-14 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, March 2, 1995.
  2. Obituaries : Bernie Cornfeld Independent February 28, 1995"OBITUARIES : Bernie Cornfeld". March 1995. Archived from the original on 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  3. Herzog, A. (1987) Vesco, His Rise, Fall and Flight Archived 2008-05-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. Obituary: Robert Vesco; Fugitive American financier responsible for one of the biggest frauds in history The Guardian May 20, 2008"Obituary: Robert Vesco". 20 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2016-12-25. Retrieved 2016-12-24.

Further reading
  • The Bernie Cornfeld Story by Bert Cantor; Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1970. ISBN 0-8184-0013-7
  • Do You Sincerely Want To Be Rich? by Charles Raw with Godfrey Hodgson and Bruce Page; André Deutsch, 1971, ISBN 0-233-96328-6
  • Herzog, A. (2003) Vesco: From Wall Street to Castro's Cuba. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-27209-6
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