August 25, 2016

The SEC announced penalties against 13 investment advisory firms found to have spread false claims made by investment management firm F-Squared Investments about its flagship product Alphasector.  An SEC sweep found that the 13 firms accepted and negligently relied upon claims by F-Squared that its Alphasector strategy for investing in exchange-traded funds had outperformed the S&P index for several years.  The firms repeated many of F-Squared claims while recommending the investment to their own clients without obtaining sufficient documentation to substantiate the information being advertised.  The penalties assessed against the firms range from $100,000 to a half million based upon the fees earned by each firm related to Alphasector.  SEC

Tagged in: Misrepresentations, Securities Fraud,