Congressman calling for hearings on AIG Phoenix conference

Statement from Citizens Against Government Waste

The nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), today reacted to an investigative report by KNXV ABC15 in Phoenix, Arizona.  CAGW President Tom Schatz issued the following statement:

"This morning’s news that the federal government has increased its stake in AIG to $150 billion should exacerbate the taxpayers’ outrage over the KNXV November 7 investigative report about the posh conference held by the company at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix.  AIG executives should be ashamed of themselves.  Individuals across the country are on the precipice of financial ruin while AIG personnel still attend extravagant getaways at the taxpayers’ expense.

"It is incredible that senior AIG executives would hold such an event following the dust up last month over the $440,000 conference near Los Angeles.  After being castigated by the media, Congress, and taxpayers, AIG pledged to cancel more than 160 conferences.  Apparently the stylish event in Phoenix escaped the ax.  While an AIG spokesman claimed that 90 percent of $343,000 cost of the conference would be paid by outside sponsors, that statement has as much credibility as the claim that taxpayers would only have to pay $85 billion to bailout AIG – a figure that today increased by 76 percent over the original estimate.

"Taxpayers should be demanding complete accountability and transparency for every penny being spent on the Wall Street bailout.  Yet the KNXV report shows the AIG tried to hide its sponsorship of the conference.  In addition, news reports indicate that the Federal Reserve will not identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion in emergency loans nor the type of collateral it has received in exchange for those loans.

"Congratulations to KNXV for providing information about where at least some of the bailout money is going.  That is more than the participants in this unprecedented expenditure of the taxpayers’ money have been doing to date."

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

Statements from Conference Sponsors

Below are statements from some of the companies involved in sponsorship of the AIG Asset Management Conference in Phoenix. Others have been contacted, but they have not responded as of this posting date.

Oppenheimer Funds-
"As a policy we don't disclose sponsorship amounts or the status of payment, however I can confirm that we sponsored this event."

Brinker Capital-
"As is the case with all of the conferences in which we participate, our commitment to the AIG Asset Management conference was made in January. We were very pleased to participate in this conference, along with some of America’s top financial advisors, particularly at this troubling time in our country when Americans need prudent financial advice more so than perhaps at any time in the recent past. As a privately-held firm, we do not make public any of our financial information."

Curian Capital-
"Curian was a sponsor of AIG's 2008 Asset Management Conference in Phoenix.  We felt it was a valuable opportunity to educate more than 150 top advisors, the quality of which are not in dispute, on Curian's investment platform.  Curian has more than 450 broker-dealer relationships that provide access to more than 40,000 advisors nation-wide."

Invesco Aim-
"Invesco Aim occasionally sponsors conferences dedicated to educating and training financial consultants to meet the needs of their clients as part of our cornerstone belief that the expertise and guidance an advisor can offer are essential to successful financial planning."