Milltown man pickets for 2 days in Princeton

BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

Like many Americans, lifelong Milltown resident Henry de Lumeau recently found himself doubting financial institutions. When the 77-year-old retiree decided to withdraw funds from a money market account as a safety measure, he was in for a surprise— one he would not take sitting down.

“Things were getting a little scary on the market front, so I said, ‘I’ll go down and get a check for it,’” de Lumeau said.

That was Sept. 19. When de Lumeau paid a visit to the TD Ameritrade office in Princeton, employees there issued him a check for the full amount of his account. He said he then headed to his bank to deposit the check, and wrote checks against it.

Like other retirees, de Lumeau and his wife Mary Lou live on a fixed income, and have counted on the modest savings in their money market account as it is all the savings they have, he said. Everything seemed fine, until a week later, when de Lumeau received a copy of the TD Ameritrade check from his bank. The company had stopped payment on it.

When Monday, Sept. 29 rolled around, de Lumeau went to Princeton to get to the bottom of the situation. He said he was told by company representatives that all assets were frozen, and he could only get half his money. Though de Lumeau told the rep he had written checks against the TD Ameritrade check, he was told there was nothing the company could do.

De Lumeau learned that the Reserve Fund, a third-party money market mutual fund manager, had been forced to put a temporary hold on clients’ funds, due to extraordinary conditions in the financial spectrum. Though he was told there was nothing that could be done, he decided to do something on his own behalf.

“I went down there, and I picketed for two days,” de Lumeau said.

After receiving a demonstration permit from the borough of Princeton, de Lumeau parked himself in front of the TD Ameritrade office on Nassau Street, armed with a sign, flyers and good old-fashioned gumption. He told anyone who would listen about his problem.

“I had wonderful feedback from the students down there in college,” de Lumeau said. “I’m telling you, the people in Princeton were just so great. I mean, the people really rallied behind me.”

For example, he noted that the owner of a nearby deli sent sandwiches to de Lumeau in a show of support.

Workers at the office were not quite as enthusiastic about de Lumeau’s efforts. “They got tired of me in front of the building,” he said.

De Lumeau said a company representative approached him and said they could give him 70 percent of the funds from his account.

“I was so tired of picketing out there that I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it,’” he said.

Kim Hillyer, spokeswoman for TD Ameritrade, said she was unsure why the check was written in the first place, but would refer de Lumeau’s situation to the president’s office.

“Sure, there are clients that are confused, [and] there are clients that are frustrated,” Hillyer said, adding that TD Ameritrade is providing information it receives from the Reserve Fund on its Web site for clients.

The Reserve Fund filed a request Sept. 19 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to suspend redemption of monies from two of its series — the Primary Fund and the U.S. Government Fund.

According to Hillyer, the funds “broke the buck,” or went below $1 per share, as a result of recent market conditions, including Lehman Brothers’ Sept. 15 filing for bankruptcy protection. These variables added up to an influx of client requests to redeem their funds, which became impossible to deliver at full market value, according to the Web site.

“We made a commitment, I believe on the 24th, that if customers get less than $1 per share, TD Ameritrade will fill in up to $50 million,” Hillyer said. “We have as much information as our clients do.”

The situation leaves many waiting for word from the Reserve. The money manager’s Web site is posting daily updates on the situation. There was no date set for the disbursement of funds.