SEC Charges Investment Adviser With Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged investment adviser Stephen Brandon Anderson with defrauding clients by overcharging advisory fees of at least $367,000. According to the SEC’s order, Anderson owned and operated River Source Wealth Management, LLC, a now-defunct registered investment adviser in North Carolina. River Source’s primary revenue stream was customer advisory fees. Customer agreements provided that those fees would be based on each customer’s assets under management. The SEC’s order finds, however, that in 2015 and 2016, Anderson overcharged a majority of his clients. The amount and percentages of the overcharges varied but, in the aggregate, amounted to approximately 40% more than the agreed-upon maximum customer advisory fees.