Appeal on Hubbard ruling ‘will be costly’

Investors in Hubbard Management Funds will be up for substantial costs if they decide to appeal a High Court decision on how to divide the $44m of assets in the fund.

A good number of investors in Hubbard Management Funds may be unhappy with the court decision to divide the fund based on it being run by the late Allan Hubbard as a ‘‘pool’’ of investments – an argument put by the estate of the late Allan Hubbard and accepted by the court.

Two other proposals on division of the assets were put to the court, one another ‘‘pool’’, while the statutory managers argued the fund was a collection of individual portfolios and the division should be based on that. The statutory managers have written to about half of the investors – about 150 – who they believe are disadvantaged by the method the court has chosen advising them to seek legal advice on their position.

Stephanie Grieve of law firm Duncan Cotterill, said no decision by investors had been taken to go to appeal. Some investors were investigating the possibility but it was not confirmed yet how many investors wanted to do that.

Asked about the cost to investors of taking an appeal, Grieve said that depended on who was instructed to take the case and their seniority was one factor. ‘‘The cost of an appeal will be significant given it’s the Court of Appeal and the complexity of the issue,’’ she said.