in profile : wilmington funds trust

Posted by Sean on 18th June 201530th September 2023

Wilmington Trust Corporation is the holding company for the Wilmington Trust Company and its subsidiaries, it is very big and tied to the Federal Reserve Delaware. It is the largest banking company in Delaware, with a market share of more than 40 percent in that state. It has office space at The Kings Arms Yard. The Trust has over 50% of its investments in Corporate Bonds, but when one looks at the corporations in which they invest, it reads like a throwback to the 1920-30’s financial credit issuers to the giant corporation IG Farben, short for Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (“syndicate of dyestuff corporations”) (and also called I.G. Farbenfabriken) was a German conglomerate of companies formed in 1925 and even earlier during World War I.[1] When you find the name Du Pont in any portfolio you know you are looking at darkness, the Du points and IG Farben go hand in hand,[2]

General Motors, under the control of the Du Pont family of Delaware, played a part in collaboration comparable with Ford’s. General Aniline and Film..

Irenee du Pont was the most imposing and powerful member of the clan. He was obsessed with Hitler’s principles. He keenly followed the career of the future Fuhrer in the 1920s, and on September 7, 1926, in a speech to the American Chemical Society, he advocated a race of supermen, to be achieved by injecting special drugs into them in boyhood to make their characters to order. He insisted his men reach physical standards equivalent to that of a Marine and have blood as pure as that in the veins of the Vikings. Despite the fact that he had Jewish blood in his own veins, his anti-Semitism matched that of Hitler.[3]

Before we take a look at the history of this network we must consider the present. On the 7th May of this year 2015 USA Today reported :

WILMINGTON, Del. — In a stunning development in the nearly five-year investigation into the demise of the once-venerable Wilmington Trust Co., four of the bank’s former top executives were hit Wednesday with federal allegations they engaged in conduct that hid the true extent of the bank’s troubled loans during the economic crisis of the last decade.

Robert V.A. Harra Jr., 66, of Wilmington, former bank president and a 40-year veteran of the bank, has been charged with civil fraud and federal securities law violations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for conduct that fraudulently misled investors concerning the extent of past-due, matured and extended loans in the bank’s commercial loan portfolio.

Also charged by the SEC are David R. Gibson, 58, Wilmington Trust’s former chief financial officer; Kevyn N. Rakowski, 61, former controller; and William B. North, 55, former chief credit officer.

In addition, the Delaware US Attorney criminally indicted Rakowski of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., and North of Bryn Mawr, Pa., for making false statements to the SEC and Federal Reserve concerning the total quantity of past-due loans. The indictment alleges North and Rakowski participated in a practice to not report publicly matured loans that were in the process of extension or being handled by the bank’s loan recovery section in October and November of 2009. Full Story

From the Funding Universe profile :

Early History

Wilmington Trust (under the name Delaware Guarantee and Trust Co.) was incorporated in Delaware in 1901 by members of the du Pont family. The du Ponts held one of the oldest and wealthiest US manufacturing fortunes. leuthere Irenee du Pont de Nemours, his company’s founder, emigrated from France to the United States in 1797 and subsequently built a gunpowder plant on the banks of Delaware’s Brandywine River.

Du Pont’s company grew to be the largest industry in Wilmington and by the early 1900s was one of the largest corporations in the entire United States. Its assets at that time were believed to be worth around $24 million, a stupendous amount in the economy of that era. The Delaware Guarantee and Trust Co. was founded to handle the banking needs of the growing Du Pont company.

The bank changed its name to Wilmington Trust Company in 1903. Wilmington Trust was deeply tied to the du Pont family and their company throughout it’s early years. Du Pont family members sat on Wilmington Trust’s board, and they maintained million dollar checking accounts and even larger trust funds there. As a result Wilmington Trust, which otherwise might have been a typical small-town bank, ranked near the top of banks nationwide for assets.

Wilmington Trust extended its influence across the state of Delaware beginning in the 1940s, when it began acquiring smaller banks. It bought up the Union National Bank of Wilmington in 1943 and the Industrial Trust Co. of Wilmington in 1955. It bought up banks in the nearby towns of Newport, Claymont, and Newark between 1943 and 1949 and acquired three other area banks in 1959.

It branched out into other businesses in the 1960s and 1970s, forming a subsidiary, the Brandywine Insurance Agency, Inc., in 1964 and acquiring a travel agency in 1974.

Wilmington Trust began to suffer from some of its policies, and by 1979 it was not doing well. A new president and CEO, Bernard J. Taylor, took over the bank in the summer of 1979, coming to Wilmington from a troubled Philadelphia bank.

One element of Taylor’s plan was to get Wilmington Trust out of bonds. More than half the bank’s assets in 1979 were in 30-year bonds, which were low-yielding and had to be financed with short-term money that was priced every 30 or 60 days according to federal interest rates. Taylor sold off a third of the bank’s bonds just months before the Federal Reserve began pushing interest rates up.By the end of the 1980s more than ten percent of individuals on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest people in the United States had their trusts at Wilmington. Source

Bernard J Taylor appears to more of a plant than a genius, his plan could not have appeared out of nowhere, it was far too in sync with the agenda we suffer today, and he appeared to have serious insider information as relates to the Fed. Not only that, Taylor sold a third of the Trusts Bond investment, yet today the Trust is back where it was in 1979 having over 50% of its investments in Bonds. They do say everything moves in cycles, it appears Taylor is a man in knowledge of such cycles and for that, one would have at least a few illuminated friends.

SUMMARY TABLE

Wilmington Broad Market Bond Fund
At October 31, 2012, the Fund.s portfolio composition was as follows: (unaudited)
Percentage ofÂ Total Net Assets :

Corporate Bonds …………………………………………………52.0 %
Mortgage-Backed Securities ………………………………20.1%
US Treasury ………………………………………………………17.2%
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations ………………….4.3%
Government Agencies ………………………………………..3.9%
Asset-Backed Securities …………………………………….0.9%
Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates……………..0.7%
Municipal Bond …………………………………………………..0.2%
Cash Equivalents………………………………………………..1 9.5%
Other Assets and Liabilities ……………………………Net2 (8.8 )percentage
TOTAL ………………………………………………………………..100.0%
(1) Cash Equivalents include investments in repurchase agreements.
(2) Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statements of Assets and Liabilities.
(3) Derived from data provided by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s.

From its 2012 Semi Annual Report we learn :

WILMINGTON FUNDS
Fixed Income Funds

Wilmington Broad Market Bond Fund
Wilmington Intermediate-Term Bond Fund
Wilmington Short-Term Corporate Bond Fund
Wilmington Short Duration Government Bond Fund
Wilmington Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington Maryland Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington New York Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington Pennsylvania Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington Virginia Municipal Bond Fund

Money Market Funds
Wilmington Prime Money Market Fund
Wilmington US Government Money Market Fund
Wilmington US Treasury Money Market Fund
Wilmington Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund

Wilmington Broad Market Bond Fund (Broad Market Bond Fund) formerly MTB Income Fund
Wilmington Intermediate-Term Bond Fund (Intermediate-Term Bond Fund) formerly MTB Intermediate Term Bond Fund
Wilmington Short-Term Corporate Bond Fund (Short-Term Corporate Bond Fund) formerly MTB Short-Term Corporate Bond Fund
Wilmington Short Duration Government Bond Fund (Short Duration Government Bond Fund) formerly MTB Short Duration Government Bond Fund
Wilmington Municipal Bond Fund (Municipal Bond Fund)
Wilmington Maryland Municipal Bond Fund (Maryland Municipal Bond Fund) formerly MTB Maryland Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington New York Municipal Bond Fund (New York Municipal Bond Fund) formerly MTB New York Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington Pennsylvania Municipal Bond Fund (Pennsylvania Municipal Bond Fund) formerly MTB Pennsylvania Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington Virginia Municipal Bond Fund (Virginia Municipal Bond Fund) formerly MTB Virginia Municipal Bond Fund
Wilmington Prime Money Market Fund (Prime Money Market Fund) formerly MTB Money Market Fund
Wilmington US Government Money Market Fund (US Government Money Market Fund) formerly MTB US Government Money Market Fund
Wilmington US Treasury Money Market Fund (US Treasury Money Market Fund) formerly MTB US Treasury Money Market Fund
Wilmington Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund) formerly MTB Tax-Free Money Market Fund

The Bond Markets
The good times rolled on in the US bond market during the first half of our fiscal year. The Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index returned 2.8%. The index tracks the overall market for taxable, investment-grade US bonds and includes US Treasury and agency securities, corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The gain was propelled by strong results among corporate and MBS issues, into which investors piled as the search for investment opportunities with meaningful yields continued.
The yield of the 10-year US Treasury note, against which many other interest rates are set, declined from 1.95% at the end of April to a low of 1.43% in late July before climbing to 1.72% at the end of October. The net decrease of nearly a quarter of a percentage point boosted the prices of bonds across the market.
The S&P Municipal Bond Index1 returned 3.7%. Demand for shares of municipal bond mutual funds, which account for much of the total demand for municipal bonds, rebounded as investors appeared to conclude that fears of widespread municipal bankruptcies were overblown. As the second half of our fiscal year got under way, however, there were fears that some or all of the federal income tax exemption on most municipal bond interest income could be stripped as part of efforts in Washington to raise tax revenues. As of this writing, no changes had been made, and we would caution investors not to allow potential changes in tax policy to drive their investment decisions.

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS SUMMARY TABLE
Wilmington Short-Term Corporate Bond Fund
At October 31, 2012, the Fund’s sector classifications were as follows: (unaudited)

Percentage of
Total Net Assets

Commercial Banks …………………………………………………………..10.3%
Oil & Gas …………………………………………………………………………..7.6%
Insurance …………………………………………………………………………6.0%
Media ……………………………………………………………………………….6.0%
Consumer Finance …………………………………………………………..5.8%
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) ……………………………..5.7%
Food Products …………………………………………………………………5.1%
Electric ……………………………………………………………………………..5.0%
Capital Markets ……………………………………………………………….4.8%
Diversified Financial Services ………………………………………….3.6%
Beverages ………………………………………………………………………..3.4%
Healthcare Providers & Services ……………………………………..3.2%
Commercial Finance ………………………………………………………..2.9%
Retail ………………………………………………………………………………..2.9%
Chemicals ………………………………………………………………………..2.7%
Biotechnology ………………………………………………………………….2.3%
Telecommunications ……………………………………………………….2.1%
Internet Software & Services ……………………………………………2.0%
Electronics ……………………………………………………………………….1.8%
Software …………………………………………………………………………..1.7%
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) …………1.4%
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) …….1.3%
Computers ……………………………………………………………………….1.2%
Cosmetics/Personal Care ……………………………………………….1.1%
Home Furnishings ……………………………………………………………1.1%
Transportation …………………………………………………………………1.0%
Food Retailing ………………………………………………………………….0.9%
Auto Manufacturers …………………………………………………………0.7%
Pipelines …………………………………………………………………………..0.6%
Auto Parts & Equipment …………………………………………………..0.5%
Building Materials …………………………………………………………….0.5%
Commercial Services………………………………………………………. 0.5%
Metals & Mining ……………………………………………………………….0.5%
Semiconductors ……………………………………………………………….0.5%
Pharmaceuticals ………………………………………………………………0.4%
Whole Loan……………………………………………………………………….0.4%
Miscellaneous Manufacturing ………………………………………….0.2%
US Treasury Notes ………………………………………………………….0.2%
Office/Business Equipment ……………………………………………..0.1%
Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) …………….0.0 4%
Financial Services ……………………………………………………………0.0%
Cash Equivalents……………………………………………………………..1 1.1%
Other Assets and Liabilities Net…………………………………..2 0.9%

TOTAL 100.0%

(1) Cash Equivalents include investments in money market mutual fund and repurchase agreements.

(2) Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

(3) Derived from data provided by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s.(4) Represents less than 0.05%.

____________________

US Corporate Cooperation with IG

During the planning of the invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland, IG Farben cooperated closely with Nazi officials and directed which chemical plants should be secured and delivered to IG Farben.

In 1941, an investigation exposed a “marriage” between United States-based Standard Oil Co. and I.G. Farben. It also brought new evidence concerning complex price and marketing agreements between duPont, a major investor in and producer of leaded gasoline, US Industrial Alcohol Co. and their subsidiary, Cuba Distilling Co.

It is essential at this point that we consider the size of American investments in Nazi Germany at the time of Pearl Harbour. These amounted to an estimated total of $475 million. Standard Oil of New Jersey had $120 million invested there; General Motors had $35 million; ITT had $30 million; and Ford had $17.5 million.

In 1941, Standard Oil of New Jersey was the largest petroleum corporation in the world. Its bank was Chase, its owners the Rockefellers. Its chairman, Walter C. Teagle, and its president, William S. Farish, matched Joseph J. Larkin’s extensive connections with the Nazi government.In February 1938 the Securities and Exchange Commission held a meeting to investigate Nazi ownership of American I.G. through a Swiss subsidiary. The commissioners grilled Walter C Teagle on the ownership of the Swiss company. He pretended that he did not know the owners were I.G. Farben and the Nazi government. The commissioners tried to make him admit that at least American I.G. was “controlled by ‘European’ interests.” Teagle replied dodgy, “Well, I think that would be a safe assumption.

Not by a long way all, but here are some other corporations involved :

ITT
Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
Ericsson Company
NBC
SKF
GAF
The Texas Company
Sterling Products
Davis Oil Company
The Coca Cola Company
National City Bank
British Cable and Wireless
Siemens

Banking Web

The Bank for International Settlements was a joint creation in 1930 of the world’s central banks, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Its existence was inspired by Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, Nazi Minister of Economics and president of the Reichsbank, part of whose early upbringing was in Brooklyn, and who had powerful Wall Street connections. He was seconded by the all-important banker Emil Puhl, who continued under the regime of Schacht’s successor, Dr. Walther Funk.

The Rockefellers’ Chase National Bank (later the Chase Manhattan) was the richest and most powerful financial institution in the United States at the time of Pearl Harbour. The Rockefellers owned Standard Oil of New Jersey, the German accounts of which were siphoned through their own bank, the Chase, as well as through the independent National City Bank of New York, which also handled Standard, Sterling Products, General Aniline and Film, SKF, and ITT, whose chief, Sosthenes Behn, was a director of the N.C.B. As war approached, the links between the Rockefellers and the Nazi government became more and more firm.[3]