President Joe Biden signed the sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package last week, and $1,400 checks are already arriving in individual bank accounts. Although the checks are getting the most attention, several items in the bill will help small-employer agencies and advisor businesses, trade association executives say.

Prudential Pivots Away From Annuities, CEO Lowery Says
Prudential plans to halve the share annuities contribute to its earnings, a downsizing the insurer aims to accomplish through sales, reinsurance deals and expiring policies. Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO, said the company strategy is centered on Prudential’s $750 million cost savings plan.
Appearing on the inaugural 2021 Allianz Global webcast Tuesday, Guy Adami of CNBC’s “Fast Money” did not hold back his concerns about corporate recklessness. Fueling that recklessness is a Federal Reserve that has been “extraordinarily accommodative” over the past 12 years or so, Adami said.
Financial services trade associations raise substantial sums of political action committee funds, money that supports lobbying efforts on important issues. In light of last week’s mob attack on the Capitol and the tense political atmosphere, trade associations are reviewing donor policies.

Biden To Nominate Gary Gensler To Head SEC, Reports Say
Gary Gensler will be named chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by President-elect Joe Biden, Reuters reported Tuesday. The appointment is likely to prompt concern among Wall Street firms of tougher regulation.
The Congressional Review Act was a little-used device that Republicans used frequently early in the Trump presidency. It’s a model that a Democrat-controlled Senate could employ to kill two rules that invited public scorn.

Plenty At Stake For Financial Services In Georgia Senate Races
Republicans are unified against Biden’s plans for health care, environmental protection and civil rights. But they might not be able to stop progress on those issues — not to mention tax increases and stronger financial regulation — should Democrats Rafael Warnock and Jon Ossoff emerge victorious today.
Readers had service on the mind in 2020, as COVID-19 wrecked the economy and made face-to-face service next to impossible. The most-read stories at Advisor News reflected that service anxiety.
Commissioners were expected to discuss updating “rules that govern investment adviser marketing to accommodate the continual evolution and interplay of technology and advice, while preserving investor protections.”
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ended their fall meeting by electing a new slate of 2021 officers, with President-elect Dean Cameron announcing that he has COVID-19. Cameron, 59, is a former longtime Idaho state senator and that state’s insurance commissioner.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged ICE Data Pricing & Reference Data, a global securities pricing service and New York-based registered investment adviser, for compliance deficiencies relating to its delivery to clients of prices based on quotes it received from a single market participant, also known as single broker quotes.

Market Outlook: 2021 Is Sure To Be Better
2020 was certainly an unusual year, but in terms of market performance over the entire year—if you ignore the path of the returns—it wasn’t all that unusual. 2021 may offer similar performance, though analysts say it will likely be a smoother ride to get there.
Financial advisor Chris Lund is getting more referrals than ever, despite abandoning his public office months ago amid the coronavirus shutdown. Lund is among advisors who have successfully utilized social media and new ways of connecting with clients to keep their firms growing during the pandemic.
It is often strategy that determines whether advisors are successful or whether they underperform, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors. In particular 11 things that an advisor needs to figure out in order to be a success.
A Colorado court recently found in favor of Great-West in a 2016 lawsuit claiming the insurer had charged “excessive fees” to its retirement plan participants. The case outcome is good news for insurers wary of increasing regulation focused on retirement plans and rollovers.
More than one-third of financial advisors say they plan to retire within the next decade. That means 120,000 to 150,000 advisors leaving the business. It also means there will be a lot of succession planning issues throughout the industry, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors.
Orion Advisor Solutions made headlines last month with the blockbuster acquisition of Brinker Capital, a turnkey asset management platform (TAMP). The deal brings Orion’s combined TAMP assets under management to $40 billion. That deal is a sign of things to come, one analyst said.
In court documents, regulators say Mark Baxter, also known as Mark Morrow, began running Craigslist notices early in 2018 promising to train respondents and/or invest in winning stocks for them. The all-caps posts were made in at least 49 states, two countries, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, regulators said.
SG Americas agreed to pay a $1.55 million civil penalty to resolve the SEC’s charges and separately agreed to pay $1.55 million to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to resolve parallel charges.

Trillion-Dollar Advisory Firms On The Way, Tiburon Analyst Predicts
While 83% of Tiburon CEO Summit attendees see room for the smaller RIA, 89% also say that at least one RIA firm will reach $1 trillion in assets during the next five years. That figure is up from 67% just one year ago.
Investment adviser Brandon E. Copeland and his advisory firm, E.B. & Copeland Capital, Inc. were recently ordered to pay a hefty fine for what the Securities and Exchange Commission is calling “recidivist” violations.
The Financial Planning Association kicked off an emergency search for a new CEO today after the abrupt departure of Lauren M. Schadle on Friday. Patrick Mahoney, founder and CEO of Stoic Advisors, was named interim CEO.
A Massachusetts advisor herded dozens of unsuspecting investors into a risky, “one-size-fit-all” investment strategy, state securities’ regulators allege. The strategy concentrated a high amount of client funds on risky energy sector partnerships, regulators say.

Marijuana Class-Action Suits On The Rise, Law Firm Finds
Publicly traded companies operating in the cannabis or cannabidiol sector are being targeted by disgruntled investors with increasing litigation. Goodwin Proctor, a Boston-based law firm, recently analyzed the marijuana industry and found securities class action litigation cases more than doubled in 2019.

What Happened To Oil?
Negative oil prices have dominated headlines recently. A combination of oversupply, lack of demand, and a lack of storage capacity resulted in temporarily negative oil prices, where holders of a futures contract were paying others to take delivery of oil for them.
Kimberly Nguygen of Garland, Texas, is claiming Florida-based Raymond James moved her from a commission-based to a fee-based account even though she is a “buy and hold” investor who would require few, if any, trades.

Marijuana Stake Leaves Investors High And Dry, SEC Alleges
Steven L. Brickner, 48, of Lithia, Fla., allegedly defrauded more than 60 retail investors out of approximately $5.5 million in marijuana company investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in court documents.
A Gain Capital shareholder filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in a Delaware federal court last week, seeking to stop Gain’s acquisition by INTL FCStone Inc. The lawsuit claims Gain is keeping crucial information from shareholders.

Merrill Lynch Hit With $325,000 Fine After Self-Reporting Bad Advice
The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges Friday against Merrill Lynch and two other firms who self-reported violations under the commission’s Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative.

Texas Oilman Defrauded Investors With Fake Reports, SEC Says
A Dallas, Texas, man and three companies he controlled allegedly defrauded investors of approximately $10 million by selling fraudulent oil-and-gas investments. According to court documents, revenue projections were inflated from 22% to 489%.
A White Plains, N.Y. man and two companies will pay a $3.5 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations of fraud and market manipulation that included buying and selling a stock to make it appear to be a hot property.

Active Management ‘Doesn’t Really Work’ In Future: Analyst
Technology, investor awareness and passive options are just some reasons why active management will continue to suffer a loss of relevancy and business, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors.
A Florida man was served with an emergency cease-and-desist order by Texas officials who claim he was touting a “recession-proof” investment to weather COVID-19. In reality, officials say he was selling unregistered securities.

The SEC Releases Exam Plan For Reg BI, Form CRS
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued two alerts today letting broker-dealers know that regulators will be looking for a “good-faith effort” to comply with the impending Regulation Best Interest.

SEC Wins $35M Judgment Against Investment Group
International Investment Group hid losses, doctored records and sold millions in fake loan assets to clients, according to the SEC complaint. The company agreed to a $35 million settlement.

Maine Judge: Christian Con Man On Hook For Invested Funds
The Securities and Exchange Commission secured a summary judgment this week against a concert promoter charged with defrauding investors to promote Christian music concerts and festivals in the New England area.

Ex-NYC Banker Found Liable In International Insider Trading Scheme
Bryan Cohen, a former executive at a global investment bank, reportedly Goldman Sachs, obtained nonpublic information about potential corporate acquisitions of Syngenta AG and Buffalo Wild Wings, both of whom had engaged his then-employer to provide advisory services.

GenX Assets Are The Underrated Prize Going Forward: Tiburon
Gen X will produce the most new investable assets in the coming years, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors. Roame gave Tiburon’s five-year outlook last week for the wealth management industry, covering six broad trends on the horizon.
On Jan. 19, 2017, a Rite Aid vice president allegedly sold off more than $650,000 in Rite Aid securities before company’s stock price dropped a day later. The exec avoided an $87,277 loss with the sell-off, regulators said, but will pay much more after his day in court.

Markets Will Not Close, Treasury Secretary Vows
The U.S. markets will remain open while the country battles to control the spreading COVID-19 virus, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday. He responded to a smattering of calls for the battered markets to take at least brief holiday.

NYC Man Used Tall Tales To Scam Investors Out Of Millions
A New York City man was sentenced to prison after telling investors a series of tall tales, while leaving out his prior criminal history of fraud. Nicholas J. Genovese, 55, touted an exclusive hedge fund that only accepted investments of at least $1 million.

Lawsuits Pile Up Amid Robinhood’s Repeated App Outages
Lawsuits continue to mount against an online stock trading platform Robinhood after its services were interrupted several times this month, causing users to potentially miss huge stock market gains.

SEC Charges Russian National With Defrauding Investors Of $26M
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Russian national Friday with overseeing a multi-million-dollar scam to lure U.S. investors into buying fictitious Certificates of Deposit. The Florida man also faces criminal charges in New Jersey.

Court Freezes Assets Of Florida Advisor Accused Of Fraud By The SEC
A federal judge froze the assets of a Florida-based investment adviser firm that raised $39 million from at least 30 investors with what the Securities and Exchange Commission is calling a “fraudulent, unregistered securities offering.”

Connecticut Advisor Who Scammed Clients Out Of $1.6M Settles Charges
A Connecticut man who defrauded multiple retail clients out of $1.6 million in assets settled his final set of charges today on his way to prison.

Priest Accused Of Intimidation In SEC Hedge Fund Suit
The Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing a New Hampshire priest and hedge fund manager of threatening a witness and leaking confidential documents to a journalist as their ongoing court battle continues.

Financial Advisers Say Don’t Panic And Sell On Fear
Stocks dropped so fast on Monday that it triggered the first automatic halts in trading in two decades. U.S. stocks are now down 19% from the peak they reached last month, edging close to a bear market, defined as a drop of 20% from the peak.

Investor Alleges That Canadian Pot Grower Fudged Facts
A Canadian cannabis company is facing a class-action lawsuit in California federal court alleging that it misled investors and committed securities fraud. The issue concerns allegations of self-dealing and whether the company fairly reported negative consequences to potential investors.

Robinhood Sued After Site Goes Down On Historic Trading Day
A Florida investor is suing the online stock trading platform Robinhood after its services were interrupted for nearly the entire day March 2, causing users to miss a huge stock market rally.

Survey: Women More Likely To Say They Don’t Have Enough Money
Three-quarters of college-educated Americans feel they are behind schedule as it relates to their personal financial security but the underlying reasons differ by gender- women are more likely to say they don’t have enough money. At the same time, men are more likely to blame having too many other responsibilities, according to a new survey.

Fed Cuts Benchmark Interest Rate By Half-Point To Offset Virus
US Federal Reserve cuts benchmark interest rate by half-point, most since 2008, to offset coronavirus impact. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the coronavirus “poses evolving risks to economic activity.”

SEC: Unregistered Brokers Rack Up Millions In Illegal Commissions
A pair of unlicensed and unregistered brokers scammed investors across the country, raking in millions in commissions, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges in a new complaint.

SEC Fines Actor Steven Seagal Over Crypto Promotions
The SEC’s order finds that actor Steven Seagal failed to disclose he was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 worth of B2G tokens in exchange for his promotions, which included posts on his public social media accounts encouraging the public not to “miss out” on Bitcoiin2Gen’s ICO

North Carolina Man Points SEC To Insider Trading Culprit: Himself
A North Carolina man received a lesser penalty for insider trading after blowing the whistle on himself, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday.

Dow Jones Plunges On Coronavirus Fears
The financial world is reeling today as stocks fell nearly across the board while nervous investors assessed the growing coronavirus threat. At some points, stocks fell more than 1,000 points Monday.

SEC Settles Insider Trading Case Involving Ex-AIG Legal Assistant
The Securities and Exchange Commission claims a former AIG legal department employee tipped off his father of a pending insurance company acquisition and the elder man cashed in a $20,000 stock gain off the transaction.

Liquor Distributor Settles SEC Complaint With $5M Fine
A major worldwide beverage distributor has agreed to a $5 million fine to settle a complaint brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it manipulated inventory and misled investors.

SEC: Florida Pair Raked In $170M Off Investment Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission says a Tampa real estate investment firm ran a Ponzi scheme that raised $170 million from at least 1,100 mostly elderly investors. Most investors had limited knowledge of what they were investing in, the complaint says, or that the defendants paid out $24 million in commissions to agents and others.

Trump Is Going To Win, Analyst Tells Advisors
There is no reason to expect any change in the Beltway distribution of power, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors. Speaking during a regular conference call Thursday, Roame said President Donald J. Trump is on track for another four-year term.

Boston-Area Man Led ‘Extremely Aggressive’ Insider Trading Scam, SEC Claims
According to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Charlie Chen placed “extremely aggressive” and “extraordinarily profitable” trades in advance of Vistaprint quarterly earnings announcements from April 2013 through July 2014.