F3 Partners

F3 Partners operated exclusively as a feeder fund — all client capital went into accounts at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. Robert Jaffe maintained a direct financial relationship with Madoff, collecting commissions and fees for assets he directed to the firm. No evidence suggests Jaffe knew the returns were fraudulent at the time, though the SEC's 2010 settlement required him to disgorge earnings generated through the feeder arrangement.

Robert M. Jaffe served as the firm's sole principal and president. Jaffe is the son-in-law of Carl Shapiro, founder of Kay Windsor Inc. and a major early Madoff investor. Jaffe leveraged family connections and social networks in Boston, Palm Beach, and beyond to build his client base. He was permanently barred from the securities industry in 2010.

No, F3 Partners was a personal investment vehicle operated by Robert Jaffe that pooled capital from external investors, making it more accurately a feeder fund than a family office. It managed money for multiple unrelated third parties rather than serving a single family's consolidated wealth.

The firm ceased operations when Bernard Madoff was arrested in December 2008. In June 2010, the SEC permanently barred Robert Jaffe from the securities industry and he surrendered assets including a $1.25 million home and $500,000 cash settlement to resolve claims (per SEC administrative proceeding, 2010). Civil suits from investors were consolidated into the Madoff bankruptcy proceedings.

As a private feeder arrangement operating through personal relationships, F3 Partners was not registered with the SEC as an investment adviser and did not publicly disclose holdings or performance. This light regulatory footprint was common among Madoff feeders, many of which relied on the 'private adviser exemption' to avoid registration. The SEC's post-2008 enforcement actions against feeders like F3 Partners, Cohmad Securities, and Fairfield Greenwich established that such entities were effectively unregistered investment advisers.