{"text":[[{"start":11.7,"text":"The US Treasury on Tuesday said it would examine the explosive growth of strategies used by hedge funds to help clients lower their tax bills, warning that it would not turn a “blind eye to aggressive planning”."}],[{"start":25.45,"text":"The shot across the bows led to a 7 per cent fall in shares of Affiliated Managers Group, which owns a stake in AQR, one of the largest purveyors of so-called tax-aware investment strategies."}],[{"start":37.5,"text":"More than $90bn flowed into hedge funds offering “tax alpha” strategies between the start of 2025 and April this year, the FT previously reported, as investors sought a new twist on the age-old practice of tax-loss harvesting."}],[{"start":51.2,"text":"AQR and Quantinno, another hedge fund group set up by former AQR traders in 2018, have pioneered an approach that uses leverage and algorithmic trading to buy and short securities at scale, systematically realising losses on positions that can be offset against profits elsewhere."}],[{"start":68.35,"text":"That has spawned copycats and intense competition for clients that have attracted the attention of the Treasury, concerned that aggressive strategies are lowering tax income for the US government."}],[{"start":79.1,"text":"“We have seen pitch decks where they advertise that if you invest a million dollars, you may get a $300,000 ordinary loss,” Kevin Salinger, deputy assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury, told a Wall Street Tax Association seminar on Tuesday."}],[{"start":94.94999999999999,"text":"“I would advise investors to be cautious when something looks too good to be true because it probably is,” he said without naming any investment managers. His remarks were reported by Bloomberg."}],[{"start":106.49999999999999,"text":"The strategy has become wildly popular on Wall Street over the past year, as the wealthiest Americans have sought out new ways to lower their tax bills, even as certain corners of Wall Street have grown concerned that it has grown too quickly. "}],[{"start":120.14999999999999,"text":"AQR on Tuesday said: “Treasury made clear they were soliciting industry input as part of an information-gathering process, with no immediate plan of action for any potential new guidance or rules.”"}],[{"start":132.39999999999998,"text":"The firm added its commitment to investors was to do the “best we can for them”."}],[{"start":137.09999999999997,"text":"“That entails adapting our longstanding pre-tax alpha process to be more tax efficient, in a manner designed to operate within all relevant guidance and regulations. We would not be serving our clients well if we didn’t,” it said."}],[{"start":151.59999999999997,"text":"AQR has previously said the “primary draw for investors” should be the returns from its strategies — the “pre-tax alpha”, or market-beating performance — before any tax benefits."}],[{"start":161.79999999999995,"text":"Salinger and Treasury colleagues stopped short of saying there would be new guidance for investment managers that could crimp some tax alpha strategies, but said there would be “serious dialogue with the market before positions harden”."}],[{"start":173.84999999999997,"text":"Shares in AMG fell 7 per cent to $340.58 on Tuesday. The group owns a portfolio of stakes in investment managers, of which AQR is among the largest contributors to its earnings, according to analysts."}],[{"start":188.19999999999996,"text":"The company has in recent months attracted short sellers betting that AQR’s tax-aware strategies could attract regulatory scrutiny."}],[{"start":196.49999999999997,"text":"Jay Horgen, AMG chief executive, addressed the controversy on an earnings call with analysts in May. “These tax-aware strategies . . . only speak to one aspect of AQR’s broad platform and its continued innovation,” he said. "}],[{"start":210.89999999999998,"text":"The Treasury and Quantinno did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":222.59999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784690151_2235.mp3"}