Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 24, 2025

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that while overall financial advisor headcount remains relatively flat, the RIA channel continues to gain share in terms of both headcount (as brokers break away to start their own independent firms and aspiring advisors seek (..)

Financial Planner 246

Financial Planner Asset Allocation Clients Commission 246

Wealth Management

MAY 29, 2025

According to the commission, Andrew Jacobus allegedly raised nearly $40 million from clients, falsely claiming he would invest their securities via accounts at U.S.-based based brokerage firms.

Commission 175

Commission Accounting Clients Investing 175

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 9, 2023

Liz is the co-owner of Pleasant Wealth, a hybrid advisory firm based in Canton, Ohio that oversees $146 million in assets under management for 522 client households.

Commission 246

Commission Planning Financial Advisor Financial Planning 246

Wealth Management

MARCH 6, 2023

Fiduciary RPAs paid additional fees from manufacturers or through proprietary products have no place in today’s transparent fiduciary world.

Commission 264

Commission Manufacturing 264

Wealth Management

MARCH 18, 2024

The commission accused Global Predictions and Delphia of “AI washing,” making misleading claims about how they each used artificial intelligence in managing investments.

Commission 306

Commission Management Investing Investments 306

Wealth Management

DECEMBER 12, 2024

The commission charged South Carolina-based former rep Eric Cobb with defrauding clients while working for SeaCrest Wealth Management. The firm paid $375,000 to settle the charges.

Commission 263

Commission Wealth Management Clients Management 263

Wealth Management

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Vista Financial Advisors registered in 2021 and soon claimed it managed more than $11.5 trillion—with a "T"—with no evidence of any legitimate assets at all, according to the commission.

Commission 289

Commission Financial Advisor Assets Management 289

Wealth Management

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Wellesley Asset Management failed to properly disclose that it used hypothetical performance in advertisements for an index it created, according to the commission.

Advertising 277

Advertising Commission Assets Marketing 277

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

The commission settled charges that Wahed Invest violated the ad rule when including a pro soccer player and MMA athletes in marketing without clarifying that they weren’t clients and were compensated.

Commission 349

Commission Clients Investing Investments 349

Wealth Management

MAY 5, 2023

Classic Asset Management will pay more than $933,000 to settle charges with the commission. The settlement comes several months after the SEC’s Exam Division cited leveraged ETFs as a main area of focus.

Commission 264

Commission Assets Management 264

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 11, 2025

Senate has confirmed Paul Atkins to be the next Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that the U.S.

Financial Planner 162

Financial Planner Communication Commission Clients 162

Wealth Management

OCTOBER 2, 2024

He joined the commission in 2021 and has overseen numerous notable cases, including the first actions related to Regulation Best Interest. Grewal’s last day will be Oct.

Commission 298

Commission 298

Wealth Management

AUGUST 14, 2024

According to the commission, Russell Todd Burkhalter, the CEO of Drive Planning, allegedly used new funds to pay existing investors’ returns and personal expenses, including yacht and private jet payments.

Commission 299

Commission Planning 299

Wealth Management

JUNE 9, 2023

The SEC's new risk alert reiterates that the commission is "not kidding" about marketing rule violations, according to the head of one vendor.

Commission 316

Commission Marketing Marketing 316

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 26, 2022

Amy is the owner of Rooted Planning Group, an independent RIA based in Corning, New York that oversees $67 million in assets under management for 175 client households.

Financial Planner 246

Financial Planner Management Planning Financial Advisor 246

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 19, 2025

Training programs for new financial advisors have traditionally followed a sales-focused, sink-or-swim approach that primarily paid on commission for product sales. While some of these programs still exist, the role of an associate advisor has evolved alongside the broader financial planning profession.

Financial Planning 147

Financial Planning Communication Certification Planning 147

Wealth Management

MAY 1, 2024

The Federal Trade Commission's move to outlaw these clauses in contracts could affect millions of Americans. But litigation against the ban is already in motion.

Commission 312

Commission Banking 312

Abnormal Returns

MARCH 18, 2024

riabiz.com) UBS is the biggest wealth manager outside of North America. investmentnews.com) How home buying is going to change with the upheaval of realtor commissions. (wiredplanning.com) Ben Johnson and Julie Willoughby talk with Tony Davidow who is a senior alternative investment strategist for the Franklin Templeton Institute.

Wealth Management 261

Wealth Management Commission Clients Management 261

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

According to the commission, Invesco overstated how much of its AUM was ESG-integrated because that percentage included all ETFs.

Commission 277

Commission 277

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Kaival Patel was previously convicted of charges stemming from a plan to collect commissions on falsely prescribed compound medications, according to the Justice Department.

Commission 278

Commission Medical Insurance Planning 278

Wealth Management

MAY 17, 2023

Panelists spoke about advanced analytics’ impact on the industry during FINRA’s annual conference, while SEC Chair Gary Gensler said he’d asked commission staff to consider recommendations on rules for predictive data analytics conflicts.

Commission 311

Commission 311

NAIFA Advisor Today

AUGUST 1, 2023

In the rapidly evolving health insurance sales landscape, efficient process management poses significant challenges for Field Marketing Organizations (FMOs) and Brokerage General Agencies (BGAs).

Commission 98

Commission Insurance Sales Accounting 98

Wealth Management

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

According to the commission, Donald Anthony Wright made false statements when selling promissory notes to clients to fund the purchase of a Texas-based media marketing company.

Commission 277

Commission Media Clients Marketing 277

Wealth Management

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

The commission alleged two advisors defrauded clients by allocating unprofitable trades into their accounts, netting millions in "illicit" profits for themselves.

Commission 272

Commission Accounting Clients 272

Wealth Management

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

The commission alleged that the schemers behind the fraudulent crypto platform NanoBit Limited falsely claimed their affiliate was an SEC-registered broker.

Commission 264

Commission 264

Wealth Management

JANUARY 21, 2025

The new task force will be led by Commissioner Peirce and was unveiled by an SEC release criticizing the commissions prior approach to crypto enforcement.

Commission 264

Commission 264

Wealth Management

OCTOBER 16, 2023

On Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission declined to appeal on earlier positive court ruling for Grayscale.

Commission 286

Commission 286

Wealth Management

OCTOBER 26, 2023

The commission accused Julie Anne Darrah of a multi-year scheme targeting elderly female advisory clients spanning from before and after her firm joined Wealth Enhancement Group.

Clients 290

Clients Commission 290

Wealth Management

MAY 7, 2024

The IBD filed a notice to appeal with the First Circut Court of Appeals after a Massachusetts federal judge ruled in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Commission 289

Commission 289

Wealth Management

APRIL 23, 2024

The proposal by the Federal Trade Commission would ban most new non-compete agreements including those of senior executives.

Commission 283

Commission 283

Wealth Management

APRIL 8, 2025

In a speech to state securities regulators, Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda said he worried the threshold may have become unbalanced since Dodd-Frank and asked commission staff to conduct a periodic evaluation of the cutoff.

Commission 264

Commission 264

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

The Board’s Disciplinary and Ethics Commission previously released anonymized iterations of its public sanctions, but starting today the Board will make the actual orders available to the public.

CFP 285

CFP Ethics Commission 285

Wealth Management

DECEMBER 11, 2023

In a recent report, the SEC Investor Advocate suggested the commission "temporarily" stop RIAs from including mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts, arguing they could "mislead retail clients into not exercising their legal rights."

Commission 290

Commission Retail Clients 290

Wealth Management

JANUARY 3, 2025

It is the Commission's latest enforcement action stemming from recently implemented RIA marketing rules. Atlas Financial Advisors falsely claimed Morningstar had verified and validated the hypothetical performance of its proprietary Portfolio Shield strategies,according to the SEC.

Portfolio 264

Portfolio Commission Financial Advisor Marketing 264

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

According to the commission, James David Burleson’s scheme caused over $3 million in losses for his clients and a 26.5% positive return for himself. The SEC argues the probability that divergence occurred by chance was “less than one in a million.”

Commission 264

Commission Clients 264

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority must let the US Securities and Exchange Commission weigh in before it can cast out one of its members, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found.

Commission 264

Commission 264

Wealth Management

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

In a session that lasted more than two hours, the justices suggested that people accused of fraud by the SEC have a constitutional right to go before a federal court jury, at least when the commission is seeking civil penalties.

Commission 287

Commission 287