SignalPoint Asset Management to PAY SEC Fine for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

The Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering the comptroller and principals of SignalPoint Asset Management to pay $215,000 for breach of fiduciary. The regulator claims that the Missouri-based registered investment adviser breached its fiduciary duty when it did not tell clients about certain conflicts of interest.

The SEC says that SignalPoint principals Dennis R. Walker, Jonathan C. Timson and John W. Handy Jr. failed to disclose that they had control of the RIA when they advised clients to invest in it. This failure to disclose the conflict is a violation of the Advisers Act.

Michael Orzel, SignalPoint’s comptroller, was responsible for filing and drafting the RIA’s Form ADVs that also failed to disclose that Walker, Timson, and Handy were not just the principals of the registered investment adviser but also its control persons.

SignalPoint Asset Management is the investment adviser to over 1,800 accounts. Asset under management is about $526 million.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty a “fiduciary” has a legal obligation to act in another’s best interests. The duty is typically one that is performed in good faith and the fiduciary makes the clients’ interests the first priority over his/her own. Part of this is disclosing to a customer any conflicts of interest, especially when making an investment recommendation that will benefit the fiduciary. Examples of other duties that should be honored including: providing complete and fair disclosure of important facts, and exercising professional judgment, skill, care, and diligence.

At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP, our securities lawyers represent securities claims for investors who have lost money because a breach of fiduciary duty occurred. Contact our investment adviser fraud attorneys today.

SEC fines Missouri RIA for breach of fiduciary duty, InvestmentNews, July 3, 2014

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