Kentucky Bond Fraud Attorney

Paducah, Kentucky Investor Sues Stifel Over Easterly ROCMuni High Income Fund Losses. Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas Is Representing the Investor Against Stifel for Easterly ROC Muni High Income Fund losses

Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas (“SSEK”) has filed a claim on behalf of a Paducah, Kentucky investor against Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. (“Stifel”) for losses suffered as a result of the collapse of this “junk bond” fund.  This investor contends that his Stifel financial advisor concentrated his account into the Easterly ROC Muni High Income Fund (RMJAX, RMHIX, and RMVHX). This speculative fund lost more than half of its value in a few days in June, with its share price plunging from over $6.00 to less than $3.00 a share.  The Fund has lost many millions of dollars, going from $232 million in investments at the end of March 2025 to under $17 million recently.

Although Stifel did liquidate this investor’s investment in the Easterly Fund before it fully collapsed, this did not save him from losing a significant percentage of his investment. In his FINRA lawsuit, our client is alleging unsuitable recommendations, breach of fiduciary duty, overconcentration, misrepresentations and omissions, negligence, unjust enrichment, failure to supervise, and more.

What Is The Easterly ROCMuni High Income Municipal Bond Fund?

This is a municipal bond fund that purportedly invests at least 80% of its net assets in tax-exempt debt securities, with most of the debt securities having a below investment-grade rating. This essentially means that the Easterly ROCMuni High Income Municipal Bond Fund (“Easterly Fund”) is actually a junk bond fund masquerading as a municipal bond fund.

In fact, calling the Easterly Fund a “municipal” bond fund is deceptive since the Easterly Fund largely invests in the bonds of small corporate issuers, not typical municipalities such as cities, counties, or states.   Moreover, a huge percentage of the Easterly Fund was invested in D to BB-plus rated or unrated junk bonds.

Proper due diligence of the Easterly Fund would have made this fact obvious to Stifel. Surely a clear understanding of the actual composition of this fund and its risks would have prevented the broker-dealer from selling it to customers.

At no point did this Paducah, Kentucky investor’s Stifel broker let him know there were concerns about the Easterly Fund.  Instead, this investor alleges he was always led to believe this was a safe investment, despite it always being a junk bond fund.

The Easterly Fund’s large losses primarily took place on June 13, 2025, during a fire sale it initiated. Its year-to-date performance has dropped to -57.34%.

Why Work With Our Trusted Bond Loss Law Firm?

Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas is representing Easterly ROC Muni High Income Fund investors whose Stifel broker marketed and sold them this junk bond fund. We are also investigating brokers from other firms, including Janney Montgomery Scott, Osaic, and others that may have promoted this speculative investment to customers.

You want to work with seasoned securities lawyers who understand the complexity of these kinds of investments and how to prove that you are owed damages by your financial advisor. We have been fighting for investors for 35 years, and more than 90% of our clients have secured full or partial financial recovery through our skilled efforts.

The first step is to contact our Kentucky securities law office today about your Easterly ROC Muni High Income Fund investor losses so that we can help you explore your legal options. We have recovered a collective many millions of dollars for thousands of investors.

Contact Info To Request Your Free Initial Case Consultation: 
Email: Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas Senior Partner and Bond Fraud Attorney Sam Edwards – sedwards@sseklawfirm.com

Call Toll-free: (800) 259-9010

In Kentucky: 866-931-7628