Rogers Discussed Selling Funds' Stake to Refco

Investors in two of Jim Rogers' commodity funds who feel sideswiped by the Refco(RFXCQ) scandal might want to take another look at their famous manager when considering whom to blame.

Rogers, who became a media star in the 1990s by dishing out investing advice on television, held talks with the since-collapsed New York brokerage about purchasing a stake in his management company just weeks before Refco was laid low by scandal, sources told TheStreet.com.

The talks between Rogers and Refco stemmed from a series of discussions beginning last spring aimed at giving Refco a prominent role in marketing and selling the Rogers funds. The ongoing talks led to a deal in which Rogers' Beeland Management Co. transferred $362 million in assets in the two funds from Man Financial to Refco in late September.

"Two months ago, it looked like a brilliant decision," said a person close to the funds. But the decision to move the assets backfired when Refco filed for Chapter 11 protection on Oct. 17, leaving the money locked up in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Beeland manages the Rogers Raw Materials Fund and the Rogers International Raw Materials Fund.

Walter Thomas Price, Beeland's CEO, confirmed Refco made an overture in August to buy out the interest of Beeland's minority shareholders.

"As CEO, and in my fiduciary obligation, I passed along to the minority shareholders Refco's interest in the possible acquisition of their ownership," says Price, who is also chairman and CEO of Price Group, a Chicago-based futures trading and brokerage firm.

In fact, by early October, Refco was quickly taking on a bigger role in the daily operation of the Rogers funds. By that time, the brokerage had officially become the selling agent for the Rogers funds, replacing Uhlmann Price Securities, a small Chicago firm affiliated with the Price Group.