WASHINGTON (CN) — The SEC fined 13 investment firms a total of $2.2 million for spreading false claims that F-Squared Investments made about its investment strategy, for which F-Squared itself was fined $35 million.
The SEC said Thursday that an "enforcement sweep" found that the 13 firms negligently relied on F-Squared's claim that its AlphaSector strategy for investing in exchange-traded funds had outperformed the S&P Index for several years. The firms repeated the claims without inquiring whether, as F-Squared later admitted, that its claims were inflated.
F-Squared was fined $35 million in 2014.
On Thursday the SEC announced it had fined these firms these amounts:
AssetMark — $500,000
BB&T Securities — $200,000
Banyan Partners — $200,000
Congress Wealth Management — $100,000
Constellation Wealth Advisors — $100,000
Executive Monetary Management — $100,000
HT Partners — $100,000
Hilliard Lyons — $200,000
Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management — $200,000
Prospera Financial Services — $100,000
Risk Paradigm Group — $100,000
Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors — $100,000
Shamrock Asset Management — $200,000
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