TFCIX Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund - Institutional Cl (MM)

Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Third Avenue Management LLC (the “Advisor”), Third Avenue Trust (the “Trust”), and certain of their officers and trustees.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, Central District of California, and docketed under 16-cv-00770, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased securities of Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund Investor Class shares (NASDAQ:TFCVX) and Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund Institutional Class shares (NASDAQ:TFCIX) between March 1, 2013 and December 10, 2015 inclusive (the “Class Period”).  This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”).  

If you are a shareholder who purchased TFCVX and TFCIX securities during the Class Period, you have until March 29, 2016 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchase.

Third Avenue Trust is an open-end management investment company that consists of different investment series, including Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund (the “Fund”). The Trust is organized under the laws of Delaware pursuant to a Trust Instrument dated October 31, 1996. The Trust is headquartered at 622 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017.

The Complaint alleges that the statements made by the Defendants to the investing public in the registration statements, prospectuses, and annual reports, and any sales or promotional material for the Fund misrepresented or omitted material facts about the investment objectives, assets, operations, or management of the Fund. Specifically, the Fund's registration statements and prospectus misled investors about its liquidity and risk.

A key feature of open-end funds is that they allow investors to redeem their shares daily. Funds therefore must maintain assets that are sufficiently liquid to meet shareholder redemptions. However, it appears that the Fund failed to account for the illiquidity of its holdings given that the Fund's management team invested heavily in illiquid bonds. The increasing redemptions combined with the excessive illiquidity of the Fund's remaining assets drove down the net asset value of the Fund and threatened to force it to sell illiquid securities at fire sale prices. Ultimately, the Fund became so highly concentrated in illiquid securities that on December 9, 2015, Third Avenue Management LLC announced that Defendants would suspend redemptions in the Fund and put the Fund's remaining assets into a liquidating trust, a highly unusual step taken without Securities and Exchange Commission's approval.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 70 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com