08/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/30/2024 13:46
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against purported investment adviser Wisdom Capital Management Group Ltd. ("Wisdom") for making material misrepresentations and unsubstantiated statements in a form filed with the SEC regarding Wisdom's organization, office location, assets under management, and clients.
The SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Wisdom made misrepresentations in its December 2023 Form ADV filed with the SEC. The Form ADV is a uniform form used by investment advisers to register with both the SEC and state securities authorities. It requires the adviser to report information about its business, ownership, and other information. In its December 2023 Form ADV, Wisdom claimed that it is a public company operating out of office space on Wall Street in New York City; that it manages $10 million in private funds in the United States; that it advises two private funds (both with the same name as the defendant: Wisdom Capital Management Group Ltd.); and that a separate registered investment adviser reports information about these two private funds on its own Form ADV. Contrary to Wisdom's representations, the complaint alleges that the current business resident of the New York office space has no knowledge of Wisdom or its purported management personnel, and the other adviser has not reported information about the two purported private funds. The complaint also alleges that the Commission has not found any reporting of information about these two private funds on other filings with the SEC, and a search of the Commission's public company database yields no information on Wisdom.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that Wisdom failed to respond to requests by the Commission to provide records to substantiate the information on the Form ADV, including the amount of private fund assets under management in the United States.
The SEC's complaint charges Wisdom with violations of Sections 204(a) and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The complaint seeks injunctive relief and civil penalties.
The SEC's investigation is ongoing and is being conducted by Alexandra Lavin, David London, Ryan Murphy, Sarah McAteer, and Michele Perillo, of the SEC's Boston Regional Office. The SEC thanks the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for its assistance in this matter.