Turnkey Class Action Recovery Solutions for Investors and Asset Managers: Financial Recovery Technologies LLC

‘Maximize settlement recoveries and efficiently meet fiduciary responsibilities.’

Financial Recovery Technologies (FRT) is a technology-based services firm that helps institutional investors identify, file claims, and collect funds made available in securities and other class action settlements. Through its proprietary technology platform and processes, FRT deliver the most comprehensive range of securities class action filing services available. The firm excels by providing best-in-class eligibility analysis, disbursement auditing and client reporting, and it delivers the highest level of accuracy, accountability and transparency available. Founded in 2008, FRT is headquartered in Medford, Massachusetts, with offices in New York City and San Diego.

FRT is an affiliated company of the Cross Country Group LLC (CCG), a privately-held organization comprised of several independent operating companies with common ownership (the Wolk family of Massachusetts).

Prior to the creation of FRT, Sidney Wolk, the patriarch of the Wolk family, was often burdened by completing the paperwork, obtaining the proper documentation and submitting claims for the securities class actions that affected his investment portfolio. For one claim, Mr. Wolk received a substantial recovery, evidence that the time and effort it took to submit the claim was all worth it.

Based on the experience, the Wolks determined there must be a way to relieve the burden an investor faces.The company was established to help investors recover money from securities class action settlements.

In Conversation with the Key Executive

What kind of responses have you received from your consumers over the years? How have they motivated you to shape your offerings/grow the company?
The response to our services over the years has been uniformly positive. To some, we are a “miracle service,” and to many of our clients, we represent the rare vendor that actually makes them money rather than costing them. As the class action industry has evolved, so have the needs and challenges of our clients. Those changes, combined with our unique skill set in the areas of technology and automation, have allowed FRT to really disrupt the status quo and make possible for investors what really was not possible before.

What were the grounds on which you have expanded your company and its offerings over the years?
Everything we do is through the lens of our client base – which today is comprised of many of the largest institutional investors in the world. We ask what we think they need, and of course they frequently tell us what they need, in the area of securities litigation and claims recovery. Based on what we hear, and what we know, we create additional services customized for the unique needs of an institutional investor. Non-US securities litigation is great example of this. In 2010, the US Supreme Court handed down a ruling that changed how our clients needed to evaluate their non-US securities portfolio, and by September 2012, FRT had developed a service in response. It wasn’t until three years later that any of our competitors had any solution available. In recent years, FRT has evolved along with the securities litigation and class action industry to expand our suite of services beyond global group litigation coverage to include antitrust coverage, litigation monitoring and direct action analytics. All of these services were created at the behest of our clients.

If you have to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

Innovation: The securities litigation and class action landscape continues to evolve, and with it, so does FRT – this has enabled us to really disrupt the status quo and create a new model that allows investors to take advantage of opportunities that were not possible or readily accessible previously.

Technology: FRT’s technology is tried, tested and scalable to meet the needs of the most sophisticated global investors.

Experience, Knowledge & Expertise: FRT hires the best and brightest, and focuses them on this particular problem. Where many see a commodity, we see a new and better way.

Commitment: FRT has made significant investments in understanding the securities litigation and class action industry, as well as the challenges and needs of our clients. FRT continues to invest in our people, processes and infrastructure to excel in the long term.

Client Service: FRT prides itself on looking at everything through the eyes of the investor.

Are there any trigger factors/events/individuals that have played key roles in shaping your organization’s road map?
The most significant events at FRT have centered around FRT partnering with several of the largest banks, brokerage houses, and institutional investors to understand and solve their unique problems, and then learning from these outstanding institutions how to better our service and to deliver these improvements to all our clients.

What drives/inspires you to excel in your field of business?
We are motivated by our clients and their needs to have the highest degree of sound governance, and to adhere to the highest of fiduciary standards.

Where do you see you and your company a couple of years from now?
Committed to solving our clients’ problems and executing on their behalf at the highest level.

Meet the Master

Rob Adler, President: Rob is an experienced, hands-on, entrepreneurial leader with a track record of success. Over twenty years he has co-founded four technology companies, and remains an active advisor, investor, and mentor for several Boston-area growth companies. As President of FRT, Rob oversees an industry-leading team with proven expertise at recovering assets for eligible investors in securities class action settlements.

Rob graduated with a BA from Brown University, and an MBA from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar. Rob is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College and serves on the Jimmy Fund Visiting Committee.

“FRT works with the largest equity investors in the world, including leading asset managers and hedge, pension, sovereign wealth and mutual funds.”