Investors in frozen ING funds vow to keep up fight

Investors and advisers caught up in the ING frozen funds debacle have vowed to keep fighting despite expectations of a strong take-up of the settlement offer made by ING.

The estimated 13,000-plus investors who have had their money locked into the Diversified Yield Fund and Regular Income Fund since March last year have until the end of today to accept ING's proposal. The fund manager, which is 49 per cent owned by the ANZ Bank, has offered to buy back units in the two funds at a rate of 60c a unit for DYF and 62c a unit for RIF investors.

But those who accept the offer also have to waive their rights to take or benefit from legal action or claims.

The Commerce Commission has been investigating ING and ANZ since December last year and could take legal action if it finds the companies mis-sold the funds under the Fair Trading Act.

Andrew Davidson, a spokesman for the Frozen Fund investor group, said he expected the take-up to be significant.

"I would be surprised if anybody didn't take it up. We are being backed into a corner and forced to sign under duress. What option do we have?"

But the closure of the offer would not mean the group giving up. Davidson said the group would continue to support and provide as much information as it could to help the commission's investigation and was also lobbying politicians.

The group is in the process of formalising itself into a trust and is setting up a board based on members from around the country.

ING and ANZ have both said they want the settlement signed off to get closure on the funds.

But Davidson said that was not going to happen. "They may have thought we were going to go away. If they have, they have miscalculated us."

Davidson said the group was pursuing the political angle over concerns it had that ING was also one of the Government's chosen default KiwiSaver providers.

"We are really concerned about that, given the way they have treated investors and the New Zealand regulatory system.

"We need some reassurance that the Government is serious about looking at where people are putting their retirement savings."