Conseco investors want voice

INDIANAPOLIS -- Some of Conseco Inc.'s investors are demanding a voice in restructuring talks that could lead the insurance and finance company into the third-largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy since 1980.\nOwners of preferred stocks and bonds valued at $1.9 billion did not win a seat in talks that began last month over Conseco's debt, which totals about $6 billion.\nA committee of institutional investors led by United Capital Markets formed last week. As of Wednesday, holders of about $500 million of the total $1.9 billion preferred securities invested in Conseco had joined the organizing campaign, said John Devaney, president of Key Biscayne, Fla.-based United Capital.\nThe committee hired a law firm that has approached Conseco and its counsel about trying to gain a seat at Conseco's talks with banks and major bondholders. The committee has yet to receive an answer, Devaney said.\nIn a prepackaged bankruptcy, creditors negotiate terms before a filing is made and seek a judge's approval.