F-Squared Investments, Inc. (F-Squared), a registered investment manager that provides portfolios of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), recently disclosed that it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission recommending enforcement action over the performance claims of certain fund indexes. According to F-Squared’s most recent Form ADV, the SEC investigation covered the performance record of certain fund indexes from April 2001 through September 2008 (the Relevant Period). In various advertising materials, F-Squared represented that performance records were based on buy and sell signals used by a wealth management firm to make investment decisions during the Relevant Period. F-Squared acquired the data signals used in performance reporting for the Relevant Period in September 2008, and in October 2013 removed references to performance records from all advertising materials. In May 2014, F-Squared alerted clients that the SEC had informed it that the wealth management firm had not used buy and sell signals to manage assets, with the result that performance results for certain indexes had been substantially overstated. F-Squared, its CEO and a related entity received a Wells notice regarding the performance claims last month. F-Squared noted that it has cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so.
F-Squared’s most recent Form ADV is available here.
