New York Times – A Seattle hedge fund firm has come under scrutiny as a result of its work with questionable tax shelters.<\/p>\n
Last week, for the second time in three years, a Senate subcommittee described the firm, the Quellos Group, as a maker and seller of abusive tax shelters, focusing on a high-end shelter that helped five wealthy clients shield $2 billion in taxes.<\/p>\n
The firm has rejected such characterizations, saying that its tax shelter work, which began in the mid-1990\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s and ended in 2001, was not only legitimate, but also small and separate from its main business.<\/p>\n
But it was the tax shelter work that helped Quellos become one of the largest sellers of funds-of-funds, or funds that invest in hedge funds, former senior employees say. Quellos now manages more than $15 billion in assets for clients like the Hong Kong Jockey Club<\/a> and the University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n