Ga. Republican’s investments draw scrutiny as race tightens

Georgia Republican Senate candidate David Perdue has anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million invested in an elite fund managed by a Swiss bank, a detail that could offer Democrats further fodder, as they seek to paint him as an out-of-touch businessman.

{mosads}And those attacks might be having an impact on Perdue in the race. A new independent poll shows him trailing Democrat Michelle Nunn by 2 percentage points and steadily losing support over the past month and a half.

Perdue’s personal financial disclosure forms show he has invested a sum within that range in Vontobel Non-U.S. Equity LLC, an exclusive investment fund managed by Zurich-based private bank Vontobel, and he’s earned between $100,000 and $1 million from the investment since 2012.

The fund is not an overseas investment bank, which are often used by wealthy individuals and corporations to skirt U.S. taxes and regulations. Rather, according to The Huffington Post, which first reported the details of Perdue’s investment, it’s a pool of money largely used to invest in overseas companies, and appears to have been created in 2007 to help wealthy Americans protect their money from the effects of the recession.

The fund is limited to investments from just “high-net worth individuals and well-funded organizations,” The Huffington Post reports, a restriction that exempts it from typical requirements to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Democrats have sought to turn Perdue’s business career into a liability for him, hammering him for the outsourcing that took place at various companies under his watch. He’s defended the practice, once saying he was “proud” of it.

And his campaign dismissed scrutiny of the Swiss bank-managed investment firm, pointing out that Nunn has holdings in four non-U.S. investment funds as well, between $4,004 and $60,000, which made her as much as $1,600 since 2012.

“Overall, David has more invested in Henry County school bonds than in this fund. Investing a portion of your portfolio in international companies is standard diversification for most investors, including Michelle Nunn,” said Perdue spokeswoman Megan Whittemore in a statement to The Huffington Post.

The Democratic attacks on Perdue’s business record have helped keep the race tight, despite the red lean of the state. Polling out this month has shown the two running neck-and-neck, and with neither topping 50 percent support, the race looks likely to head to a January runoff.

That’s the findings in the latest poll of the race, conducted by SurveyUSA for local CNN affiliate WXIA, which gave Nunn 46 percent support to Perdue’s 44 percent support among likely voters.

Libertarian Amanda Swafford, taking 4 percent of the vote, appears to be driving the race to a runoff; 7 percent of respondents are still undecided.

The automated poll was conducted among 606 likely voters via landline and cellphone  from Oct. 17-20 and has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.