September 2019
Cetera Advisors, a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer based in Denver, Colorado, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with breaching its fiduciary duty and defrauding retail clients out of more than $10 million in undisclosed commissions in connection with the sale of mutual funds.
According to the SEC, Cetera representatives continuously recommended that clients invest in funds on the Cetera platform that cost the clients more than other less expensive, identical investments that are available.
The SEC alleges that Cetera put clients’ money into mutual fund share classes that charged 12b-1 fees when Cetera knew that the clients could have invested in lower cost shares of the same funds without those fees. These violations, which netted Cetera nearly $11 million to which it was not entitled, occurred from at least 9/2012-12/2016.
Cetera Financial Group, with about 8,000 advisors and reported revenues of $1.6 billion in 2016, includes the following firms:
- Cetera Advisors
- Cetera Advisor Networks
- Cetera Financial Specialists
- Cetera Financial Institutions
- First Allied
- Summit Brokerage Services
Cetera Corporate offices are located in El Segundo, CA, Boca Raton, FL, Denver, CO, San Diego, CA, St. Cloud, MN and Schaumburg, IL.
If you have questions about an investment account handled by one of the Cetera firms, contact us for a no charge consultation to learn about your legal options.
Rex Securities Law , with offices in Boca Raton, FL, and Austin, TX, provides representation to investors nationwide who are seeking recovery of investment losses due to the negligence or fraud of stockbrokers and broker dealers. If you have questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney.
Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.
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