NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all persons who purchased UBS Funds from UBS-AG ("UBS"), from May 1, 2000 through April 30, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Act of 1993 (the "Securities Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
The Funds, and the Symbols for the respective UBS Funds named below, are as follows:
Nasdaq: BNRAX UBS Absolute Return Bond A BNRCX UBS Absolute Return Bond C BNRYX UBS Absolute Return Bond Y BNAAX UBS Dynamic Alpha A BNABX UBS Dynamic Alpha B BNACX UBS Dynamic Alpha C BNAYX UBS Dynamic Alpha Y BNGLX UBS Global Allocation A BNPBX UBS Global Allocation B BNPCX UBS Global Allocation C BPGLX UBS Global Allocation Y BNGBX UBS Global Bond A BNDBX UBS Global Bond B BNDCX UBS Global Bond Fd Class C BPGBX UBS Global Bond Y BNGEX UBS Global Equity A BNEBX UBS Global Equity B BNECX UBS Global Equity C BPGEX UBS Global Equity Y BNHYX UBS High Yield A BNHBX UBS High Yield B BNHCX UBS High Yield C BIHYX UBS High Yield Y BNIEX UBS International Equity A BNIBX UBS International Equity B BNICX UBS International Equity C BNUEX UBS International Equity Y PWFAX UBS PACE Global Fixed-Income A PWFBX UBS PACE Global Fixed-Income B PWFCX UBS PACE Global Fixed-Income C PCGLX UBS PACE Global Fixed-Income P PWFYX UBS PACE Global Fixed-Income Y PFXAX UBS PACE Government Secs Fix-Income A PFXBX UBS PACE Government Secs Fix-Income B PFXCX UBS PACE Government Secs Fix-Income C PCGTX UBS PACE Government Secs Fix-Income P PFXYX UBS PACE Government Secs Fix-Income Y PIFAX UBS PACE Intermediate Fixed-Inc A PIFBX UBS PACE Intermediate Fixed-Inc B PIICX UBS PACE Intermediate Fixed-Inc C PCIFX UBS PACE Intermediate Fixed-Inc P PIFYX UBS PACE Intermediate Fixed-Inc Y PWEAX UBS PACE International Em Mkts Eq A PWEBX UBS PACE International Em Mkts Eq B PWECX UBS PACE International Em Mkts Eq C PCEMX UBS PACE International Em Mkts Eq P PWEYX UBS PACE International Em Mkts Eq Y PWGAX UBS PACE International Equity A PWGBX UBS PACE International Equity B PWGCX UBS PACE International Equity C PCIEX UBS PACE International Equity P PWIYX UBS PACE International Equity Y PLAAX UBS PACE Large Company Growth Eq A PLABX UBS PACE Large Company Growth Eq B PLACX UBS PACE Large Company Growth Eq C PCLCX UBS PACE Large Company Growth Eq P PLAYX UBS PACE Large Company Growth Eq Y PCPAX UBS PACE Large Company Value Equity A PCPBX UBS PACE Large Company Value Equity B PLVCX UBS PACE Large Company Value Equity C PCLVX UBS PACE Large Company Value Equity P PLVYX UBS PACE Large Company Value Equity Y PMUAX UBS PACE Municipal Fixed-Income A PFIBX UBS PACE Municipal Fixed-Income B PMUCX UBS PACE Municipal Fixed-Income C PCMNX UBS PACE Municipal Fixed-Income P PMUYX UBS PACE Municipal Fixed-Income Y PQUAX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Gr Eq A PUMBX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Gr Eq B PUMCX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Gr Eq C PCSGX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Gr Eq P PUMYX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Gr Eq Y PEVAX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Vl Eq A PEVBX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Vl Eq B PEVCX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Vl Eq C PCSVX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Vl Eq P PVEYX UBS PACE Small/Medium Company Vl Eq Y PBNAX UBS PACE Strategic Fixed-Income A PBNBX UBS PACE Strategic Fixed-Income B PBNCX UBS PACE Strategic Fixed-Income C PCSIX UBS PACE Strategic Fixed-Income P PSFYX UBS PACE Strategic Fixed-Income Y PSPIX UBS S&P 500 Index A PWSPX UBS S&P 500 Index C PWSBX UBS S&P 500 Index Fund Class B PWSDX UBS S&P 500 Index Fund Class C2 PSPYX UBS S&P 500 Index Y PWTAX UBS U.S. Allocation A PWTBX UBS U.S. Allocation B KPAAX UBS U.S. Allocation C PWTYX UBS U.S. Allocation Y BNBDX UBS U.S. Bond A BNOBX UBS U.S. Bond B BNOCX UBS U.S. Bond C BPBDX UBS U.S. Bond Y BNEQX UBS U.S. Large Cap Equity A BNQBX UBS U.S. Large Cap Equity B BNQCX UBS U.S. Large Cap Equity C BPEQX UBS U.S. Large Cap Equity Y BNLGX UBS U.S. Large Cap Growth A BNWBX UBS U.S. Large Cap Growth B BNWCX UBS U.S. Large Cap Growth C BLGIX UBS U.S. Large Cap Growth Y BNVAX UBS U.S. Large Cap Value Equity A BNVBX UBS U.S. Large Cap Value Equity B BNVCX UBS U.S. Large Cap Value Equity C BUSVX UBS U.S. Large Cap Value Equity Y BNSCX UBS U.S. Small Cap Growth A BNMBX UBS U.S. Small Cap Growth B BNMCX UBS U.S. Small Cap Growth C BISCX UBS U.S. Small Cap Growth Y
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants served as financial advisors who purportedly provided unbiased and honest investment advice to their clients. Unbeknownst to investors, defendants, in clear contravention of their disclosure obligations and fiduciary responsibilities, failed to properly disclose that they had engaged in a scheme to aggressively push UBS sales personnel to steer clients into purchasing certain UBS Funds and UBS Tier I Funds, that provided financial incentives and rewards to UBS and its personnel based on sales. The complaint alleges that defendants' undisclosed sales practices created an insurmountable conflict of interest by providing substantial monetary incentives to sell Shelf-Space Funds to their clients, even though such investments were not in the clients' best interest. UBS' failure to disclose the incentives constituted violations of federal securities laws.
The action also includes a subclass of persons who held any shares of UBS Mutual Funds. The complaint additionally alleges that the investment advisor subsidiary of UBS, UBS Global Asset Management created further undisclosed material conflicts of interest by entering into revenue sharing agreements with UBS financial Advisors to push investors into UBS proprietary funds, regardless of whether such investments were in the investors' best interests. The investment advisors financed these arrangements by illegally charging excessive and improper fees to the fund that should have been invested in the underlying portfolio. In doing so they breached their fiduciary duties to investors under the Investment Company Act and state law and decreased shareholders' investment returns.
The action includes a second subclass of persons who purchased a UBS Financial Plan that held Tier I mutual funds. The UBS Financial Plans include, but are not limited to UBS Personalized Asset Consulting and Evaluation Plan, InsightOne accounts, and/or a resource management accounts.
Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than fifteen years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States.
If you purchased any of the UBS Funds through a UBS broker between May 1, 2000 through April 30, 2005, inclusive, and sustained damages, you may, no later than September 30, 2005, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. To serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. You can join this class action as lead plaintiff online at www.murrayfrank.com. Contact plaintiff's counsel Eric J. Belfi, Christopher Hinton or Bradley Dyer to discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights or interests.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.