The association’s objective is to bring together investors with shares in H20 funds and to defend their interests, either amicably or, if necessary, through legal action.

More specifically, the association’s aim is to ensure that holders of side pockets obtain compensation in the light of the breaches of duty committed by the people responsible for managing the side-pocketed funds.

The association has three objectives:

1. Its first objective is to provide its members with a better understanding of the losses they have incurred via side pockets.
   
   Experts engaged by the association have tried to calculate present and future losses made on the side pockets.
   
   The association’s website allows you to estimate how much you have lost. We can provide individual members with details of the calculation method, but, for obvious confidentiality reasons, we have not put this information online.

2. The association will publish a periodic newsletter so that all members can follow developments.

3. The association will attempt, either amicably or through litigation, to obtain compensation for the losses its members have incurred on H2O side pockets.

The association is open to all private individuals and legal entities that currently hold shares in H2O side pockets. The six funds in question are ADAGIO, MODERATO, ALLEGRO, MULTI-BONDS, MULTI-STRATEIGES and MULTI-EQUITIES.

Asset managers and other professionals who advised clients to invest in H2O funds cannot join the association, as they do not themselves hold shares in the side pockets. However, they can advise their clients to register directly with the association’s website.

They can also carry out all the registration procedures on behalf of their clients. In this case, they must first contact the association.

Asset management companies and investment funds, etc., that subscribed to H2O funds, should contact Mr Dominique Stucki, or also contact the association.

YES. As a life insurance policy holder your investments in side pockets are indirect, but your losses are direct and real, so you can join the association and take legal action.

The association’s strength comes from having a large number of members.

Since it was created in December 2020, the association has worked closely with Mr Dominique Stucki.

But above all, since September 2022, the association has been working in close collaboration with the company Deminor, which is taking charge of all the costs of the procedure, expertise, etc…

A one-off membership fee of 50 euros per person will be requested on registration. It is intended for the functioning of the association, the publication of periodic newsletters, the coordination of lawyers, experts, consultants and mediators.

No. The only fee is the 50 euros charged at registration.

The association has signed an agreement with Deminor, a company specialised in the financing of legal actions, which will cover the costs of the procedure. In the event of success, Deminor will receive 25% (excluding VAT) of the sums recovered by the association’s members.

New members can register online via the association’s website. You can register in several steps if you do not have immediate access to all the information/documents required.

• Membership is nominative

• The only exception is for married couples subject to a community property regime, whose shares are therefore held in joint ownership, who can register jointly.

• Minors will be asked to provide contact details for their legal representative.

• People whose cases are more complex are invited to contact the association at: info@collectifporteursh2o.com

You can register in the same way as if you hold shares directly in a named account. During the registration process, you will be asked to provide a statement showing the number of side pocket shares you hold.

There is currently a great deal of uncertainty about the value of side-pockets. Each intermediary has its own approach to the subject: some no longer value them, others value them at a symbolic €1, others rely on the values published by the AMF in October 2020 when the side-pockets were created, others take the estimated values provided by H2O AM.

While side-pockets theoretically have a monthly estimated value, H2O AM does not update it every month, citing confidentiality reasons in the negotiations with Tennor.

To get around this, you will not be asked to enter an amount, only the number of shares you hold.

In order to join the association, and be included in any proceedings, whether amicable or contentious, you will need to prove that you hold shares in side pockets managed by H2O AM.

To do this, you must attach an official document from your bank or insurance company that bears your name and indicates that you hold side pocket shares on the date you joined the association.

Excel spreadsheets and asset statements are not sufficient proof that you hold side pocket shares managed by H2O AM and are not, therefore, acceptable supporting documents.

It is extremely important to be able prove your losses through documents that will stand up to scrutiny from a judge. The best official document is an annual statement from an insurance company or bank. Because the side pockets were created on 14 October 2020, the best document would be an official statement dated 31 December 2020.

Although it may be tempting for H2O AM to blame intermediaries (asset managers, insurers, brokers, platforms, etc.) for the losses it has incurred, the latter have themselves been deceived in this matter: the non-compliant investments made for more than 7 years in Tennor securities are the sole responsibility of the management company, which has not communicated transparently on this subject in its monthly reports.

The side-pockets consist of securities (bonds and shares) of the Tennor Holding group and its subsidiaries.

Tennor Holding is a Dutch company, owned by Lars Windhorst, a notorious businessman who has already been declared bankrupt.

In May 2021, due to Tennor’s financial difficulties, part of the debts of the holding company and some of its subsidiaries were restructured (H2O press release dated 25 May and Tennor press release dated 22 May 2021) with a discount of approximately -70%.
These debts had been grouped in a single bond issue (the “First Super Senior Secured Notes” or “FSSSN”), relating to the Tennor holding company, which was to be repaid in January 2022.

On 2 November 2021, the Court of Amsterdam declared the Tennor Holding group insolvent and ordered the liquidation of the group, before this decision was overturned on appeal, notably because the creditors, including H2O AM, had agreed to postpone the redemption to July 2022.
As of 15 December 2022, no repayment had been made.

Lars Windhorst told two Financial Times journalists at the end of August 2022 that he would pay back €550 million to side-pockets H2O AM “in the coming weeks”.

Mr Windhorst’s history, littered with defaults on bonds issued by entities he controls and bankruptcy filings, the fact that Tennor, his holding company, has not filed its accounts since 2019, that La Perla, one of his subsidiaries listed on Euronext Growth Paris, in which some side-pockets are shareholders, has still not filed its 2021 accounts as at 15 December 2022, all of which unfortunately leads us to believe that he will be able to repay nothing, or very little.

In any case, the damage suffered as a result of the investment of certain funds managed by H2O AM in Tennor securities, an investment not authorised by the regulations, is much higher than the 550 million euros of reimbursement mentioned by Lars Windhorst at the end of August 2022. 550 million mentioned by Lars Windhorst at the end of August 2022. As of 15 December 2022, to the best of our knowledge, this repayment had not taken place.

It is therefore essential to take legal action via the association Collectif Porteurs H2O in order to hope for compensation of the damages incurred.

The annual reports of the various H2O AM funds do indeed show additional guarantees provided by Tennor.

However, these guarantees seem very modest. €230 million, compared with a total debt of around €2.25 billion at the outset, according to the AMF, and €1.64 billion when the side-pockets were created in 2020.

The securities pledged as collateral are shares in subsidiaries of the Tennor group, which will probably be worth almost nothing if Tennor goes bankrupt.