William Penn Management Corp. v. Provident Fund for Income, Inc.

68 F.R.D. 456, 20 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 396, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12644
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 28, 1975
DocketCiv. A. No. 74-1350
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 68 F.R.D. 456 (William Penn Management Corp. v. Provident Fund for Income, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
William Penn Management Corp. v. Provident Fund for Income, Inc., 68 F.R.D. 456, 20 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 396, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12644 (E.D. Pa. 1975).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

McGLYNN, District Judge.

This action, grounded upon violations of Section 27 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 1 and Section 45 of the Investment Company Act of 19402 contains individual and class action counts. Presently before the court is plaintiffs’ motion for class certification pursuant to the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. For the reasons hereinafter stated, the plaintiffs’ motion is denied.

Plaintiff Richard M. Somers, Jr., (“Somers”) was employed by defendant Provident Fund for Income, Inc., (“Fund”) until February, 1973. Plaintiff William Penn Management Corporation, Inc., (“Penn”) is a corporation formed by Somers for the purpose of entering the investment advisory business.

Somers holds six and a fraction shares of stock in Fund and Penn holds sixty and a fraction shares. The shares held by Penn were transferred to it from the account of Somers. The net asset value of these shares, as of June 6, 1974, was approximately $235.00. All sixty-six and a fraction shares were originally acquired by Somers in April, 1973.

Defendant Fund is a mutual fund which, as of May 1, 1974, had outstanding more than 31,000,000 shares of stock owned by some 26,000 persons. As of December 31, 1973, the value of Fund’s net assets was in excess of $108,000,000.

Defendant Douglas K. Porteous (“Porteous”) was, prior to mid-1974, the president and sole owner of the stock of defendant Provident Management Corporation (“PMC”). PMC was, until mid-1974, the investment advisor and principal underwriter of defendant Fund. Porteous was also sole owner of defendant Pennsylvania Funds Corporation (“PFC”) which was the prime distributor of Fund’s shares.

This action was precipitated by the desire of defendant Porteous to relinquish his control over the Fund management. Knowing of Porteous’ desire to terminate his ties with Fund, the Fund directors sought a new investment advis- or.

Defendants Alex D. Reid, John D. Corrigan, Robert D. Crompton and John F. Lovejoy (the so-called independent directors) initiated the search for a new advisor through an evaluation of four prospective investment advisors: 1) Channing Management Corporation; 2) Keystone Custodian Funds, Inc.; 3) Oppenheimer Management Corporation; and 4) William Penn Management Corporation.

To assist in the selection and evaluation of the four candidates, the directors obtained the services of a financial consultant, Michael J. Robinson. After reviewing the qualifications of the four potential successors to PMC, Mr. Robinson recommended the selection of Chan-[458]*458ning Management Corporation, (“Chan-ning”) as the new investment advisor. On April 10, 1974, the directors recommended to Fund’s Board that Channing be selected as the successor investment advisor. This recommendation was accepted by the Board on April 10, 1974. Channing, a wholly owned subsidiary of American General Insurance Company, was, at the time, managing seven mutual funds with combined assets of some $480,000,000. Plaintiff Penn, on the other hand, had never managed any mutual funds and had, in fact, never actually engaged in business as an investment advisor.

Pursuant to the April 10, 1974 Board decision, the Notice of and Proxy Statement for the 1974 annual meeting of Fund was sent to all stockholders. The notice recommended that the stockholders approve an Investment Advisory Agreement between Fund and Channing.

On May 30, 1974, plaintiffs filed a complaint charging that this “notice and Proxy Statement” mailed to Fund stockholders contained a number of misstatements of material fact and omitted to state other material facts. These misstatements and omissions are alleged to be violations of Section 27 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and of Section 45 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. There is no allegation that the misleading or omitted statements have caused or will cause a financial loss to Fund.

Plaintiffs sought to enjoin Fund from holding the 1974 annual meeting scheduled to be held on June 7, 1974. On May 31, 1974, the parties stipulated that the annual meeting be held but that the election results not be certified until there was a full hearing on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. A hearing on the motion was held on June 10,1974 and the motion was denied.

At- Fund’s annual meeting on June 7, 1974, the stockholders approved the Investment Advisory Agreement between Fund and Channing.3 As a result of this agreement, Channing now manages Fund’s affairs and distributes its shares.4

Before the court is the plaintiffs’ motion for a class action certification. The class sought to be certified is defined as all Fund shareholders, other than officers and directors of defendants, their subsidiaries and affiliates, who had the right to vote in person or by proxy at the 1974 Fund annual meeting of stockholders held on June 7, 1974 and all those persons having or acquiring beneficial interests in the shares of defendant Fund as of June 12, 1974.5 To justify the maintenance of a class action, plaintiffs must satisfy each of the four requirements of subsection (a) of Rule 23 and one of three requirements of subsection (b). It is defendants’ position that plaintiffs’ claim fails to satisfy subsections (a)(3) and (a)(4).6

The defendants contend that plaintiffs are not typical shareholders and do not share a common interest with them because of Penn’s status as disappointed bidder for the management contract. Moreover, defendants argue that plaintiffs acquired the stocks for the sole purpose of giving them standing to sue.

[459]*459Neither the motive of the plaintiffs in acquiring the stocks nor their status as disappointed bidders disqualify them under the Typicality Requirements of Rule 23(a)(3) but they are factors to be considered in determining whether plaintiffs will “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class” as required by Rule 23(a)(4).

The constitutional guarantee of due process of law requires that no person be bound by a decision in a case in which he is not an actual litigant unless, inter alia, his interests are adequately represented. Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32, 61 S.Ct. 115, 85 L.Ed. 22 (1940). This concept of adequate representation is especially important in class action litigation under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, Consequently, “adequate representation” requires, at a minimum, that the representative party have no interests which máy conflict with those of the person he purports to represent. Carroll v. American Federation of Musicians, 372 F.2d 155 (2d Cir. 1967); Airline Stew. & S Assn. v. American Airlines, Inc., 490 F.2d 636 (7th Cir. 1973); Pennsylvania Company for Insurance v. Deckert, 123 F.2d 979 (3d Cir. 1941).

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68 F.R.D. 456, 20 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 396, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/william-penn-management-corp-v-provident-fund-for-income-inc-paed-1975.