KordaMentha Pty Ltd v The Members of the LM Managed Performance Fund (No 2)

In the case of KordaMentha Pty Ltd v The Members of the LM Managed Performance Fund (No 2), the applicant, KordaMentha, sought directions from the court regarding the final winding up of the LM Managed Performance Fund. The court had previously directed KordaMentha to finalise the winding up, but the final distribution to members had not yet occurred due to issues with the unitholder register. Specifically, certain unitholders had incorrect or insufficient details, preventing distribution of the final amounts owed to them. The court was asked to provide guidance on how to proceed with the distribution of these unpaid amounts.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether KordaMentha was justified in taking certain steps in relation to the winding up of the fund and the final distribution, and whether it was appropriate for the unpaid amounts to be paid to the Public Trustee of Queensland, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, paid into court, or dealt with by some other order. Additionally, the court was asked to determine if service of the application under section 96(2) of the Trusts Act 1973 (Qld) had been properly effected on each member of the fund.

The court reasoned that given the issues with the unitholder register, KordaMentha was justified in taking steps to ensure that the unpaid amounts were dealt with appropriately. It found that paying the unpaid amounts to the Public Trustee of Queensland was a suitable course of action. This decision was based on the need to protect the interests of the unitholders and to ensure that the unpaid amounts were held securely until the issues with the register could be resolved. Furthermore, the court ruled that service of the application had been adequately effected by posting a copy of the application and any related orders on a specified website and notifying the members via email, as permitted by the court's earlier order. This method was deemed to meet the requirements of section 96(2) of the Trusts Act 1973 (Qld).

The court ordered that KordaMentha was justified in paying the unpaid amounts to the Public Trustee of Queensland and that service of the application had been properly effected. The court also provided further directions to KordaMentha on how to proceed with the final winding up of the fund and the distribution of the unpaid amounts once the issues with the unitholder register had been resolved.