Thread: Barclays Sums Don't Add Up for Doubtful

I don't trust Barclays or FRTIB. Barclays is the reason for the IFT restrictions.

Barclays betting heavily against our F Fund

Originally Posted by luv2read

I don't trust Barclays or FRTIB. Barclays is the reason for the IFT restrictions.

Barclays betting heavily against our F Fund

That is correct! Barclays didn't have the resources to mange their own risk while we were making money and they couldn't. They went to the board and complained. Hence, IFT restrictions. Cry babies.

Guys,
Can I blow my very modest and usually financially dumb own horn for once?
I thought from the beginning that Barclays was behind all this:

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=132980&postcount=86
and
http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=138915&postcount=513

Originally Posted by Miss Piggy

Guys,
Can I blow my very modest and usually financially dumb own horn for once?
I thought from the beginning that Barclays was behind all this:

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=132980&postcount=86
and
http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=138915&postcount=513

You and me both, MP.

Originally Posted by Miss Piggy

Guys,
Can I blow my very modest and usually financially dumb own horn for once?
I thought from the beginning that Barclays was behind all this:

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=132980&postcount=86
and
http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=138915&postcount=513

The board et al must've thought we were all dumb, but we can see who the dim bulbs are now, like we didn't know what was going on. Now the truth, we knew all along, is coming out.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24639834

I wonder if they are using our retirement funds to prop up their books.

CB

If our political friends in Washington aren't aware of this, does anyone
think a Congressional Hearing could be in Barclays future. Has any one
heard a Senator, Congressman or House Representative speak of such
an outrage this is ? Just curious !

Originally Posted by CountryBoy

The board et al must've thought we were all dumb, but we can see who the dim bulbs are now, like we didn't know what was going on. Now the truth, we knew all along, is coming out.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24639834

I wonder if they are using our retirement funds to prop up their books.

CB

of course they are; that's why they don't have to raise capital like the other banks after all the writedowns. They have a steady, guaranteed flow of cash...ours! This isn't the first writedown by Barclays BTW, they took a bigger hit last year and in February this year.

The real answer why IFT limits were necessary - from tsp.gov. Just updated after the new rule went into effect. The liquidity reserve is invested in futures contracts. In October, the liquidity reserve was short, not due to IFT's, but due to Barclays bad investments. If I read the contract SOW correctly, Barclays is supposed to have adequate reserve to meet the needs of daily client activity...not gamble it on futures. Sounds like breach of contract to me. Also note what it says about Fair Valuation and the I Fund. "Fair Valuation prevents traders from exploiting “stale” prices, thus diluting the returns of other TSP participants who invest in the I Fund." One reason they gave for limits was active participants diluting returns of passive participants. If the FV mechanism already in place prevented that, why were IFT limits required? Because Barclays screwed up with the liquidity reserve and screamed "uncle." Opinions?

Barclays Equity Index Fund — The C Fund is invested in the Barclays Equity Index Fund. The C Fund holds all the stocks included in the S&P 500 Index in virtually the same weights that they have in the index. The performance of the Equity Index Fund is evaluated on the basis of how closely its returns match those of the S&P 500 Index. A portion of Equity Index Fund assets is reserved to meet the needs of daily client activity. This liquidity reserve is invested in S&P 500 Index futures contracts.

The C Fund invests in the Barclays Equity Index Fund by purchasing shares of the Barclays Equity Index Fund “E,” which, in turn, holds shares of the Barclays Equity Index Master Fund along with a liquidity pool. As of December 31, 2007, C Fund holdings constituted $79.4 billion of the Equity Index Master Fund, which itself held $124.7 billion of securities.

**********

Barclays Extended Market Index Fund — The S Fund is invested in the Barclays Extended Market Index Fund. The DJW 4500 Index contains a large number of stocks, including illiquid stocks with low trading volume and stocks with prices lower than $1.00 per share. Therefore, it is not efficient for the Barclays Extended Market Index Fund to invest in every stock in the index. The Barclays fund holds the stocks of most of the companies in the index with market values greater than $1 billion. However, a mathematical sampling technique is used to select among the smaller stocks. Barclays’ mathematical model considers size and industry group to match the industry weights in the index. Within each industry group, Barclays selects stocks that, together, are expected to produce a return that is very close to the industry’s return in the DJW 4500 Index. The performance of the Extended Market Index Fund is evaluated on the basis of how closely its returns match those of the DJW 4500 Index. A portion of Extended Market Index Fund assets is reserved to meet the needs of daily client activity. This liquidity reserve is invested in futures contracts of the S&P 400 and Russell 2000 (other broad equity indexes).

The S Fund invests in the Barclays Extended Market Index Fund by purchasing shares of the Barclays Extended Market Index Fund “E,” which, in turn, holds a liquidity pool and shares of the Barclays Extended Market Index Master Fund. As of December 31, 2007, S Fund holdings constituted $18.8 billion of the Extended Market Index Master Fund, which itself held $26.5 billion in securities.
***********
Barclays EAFE Index Fund — The Barclays Fund holds common stocks of all the companies represented in the EAFE Index in virtually the same weights that they have in the index. The return on the Barclays Fund (and on the I Fund) will differ from that of the EAFE Index on days when Barclays makes a “fair valuation” adjustment to reprice the securities held by the fund. Fair valuation adjustments are made on days when there are large movements in either U.S. equity markets or currency exchange rates after the foreign markets have closed. Fair valuation prevents traders from exploiting “stale” prices, thus diluting the returns of other TSP participants who invest in the I Fund. The performance of the EAFE Index Fund is evaluated on the basis of how closely its returns match those of the EAFE Index. A portion of EAFE Index Fund assets is reserved to meet the needs of daily client activity. This liquidity reserve is invested in futures contracts.

The I Fund invests in the Barclays EAFE Index Fund by purchasing shares of the Barclays EAFE Index Fund “E,” which, in turn, holds a liquidity pool and shares of the Barclays EAFE Index Master Fund. As of December 31, 2007, I Fund holdings constituted $29.6 billion of the EAFE Index Master Fund, which itself held $60.3 billion of securities.

Note:

Participants’ interfund transfer (IFT) requests redistribute their existing account balances among the TSP funds. For each calendar month, the first two IFTs can redistribute money among any or all of the TSP funds. After that, for the remainder of the month, IFTs can only move money into the G Fund. (For participants with both civilian and uniformed services accounts, this rule applies to each account separately.

Question: Why do our tsp funds make up more than 50% of the total amount of each of these Barclay's funds? Who are the other investors?

Originally Posted by The Fugitive

It appears that barclays is gambling with "OUR" retirement funds and our fearless board has gone belly up in protecting our interests. ........
We could very well be having our accounts emptied and we'd never know the difference, because of how they can cook the books.

The Fugitive

Been happening for years.

SEE http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/101404cdpm1.htm

and that's from 2004!

and earlier:
http://www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2002/nsb06-2002-031502.htm

Originally Posted by Frixxxx

Been happening for years.

SEE http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/101404cdpm1.htm

and that's from 2004!

and earlier:
http://www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2002/nsb06-2002-031502.htm

Frixxxx,

That's a different (but related) issue. Treasury always uses the trust funds including G fund and SS when Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling. It has nothing to do with what Barclays is doing with our TSP C/S/I funds and IFT limits, which is what I meant to discuss. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

Originally Posted by luv2read

Frixxxx,

That's a different (but related) issue. Treasury always uses the trust funds including G fund and SS when Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling. It has nothing to do with what Barclays is doing with our TSP C/S/I funds.

Sorry, for the miscommunication. I was referring to his comment on the politicians....Barclay's gambles the money, politicians use it for a safety net.