GWG Holdings and its bond issuance have been at the center of pyramid schemes, bankruptcy, litigation, and more. You can find InvestmentNews' complete reporting of the ongoing saga here.
There are few reporters who have covered the GWG fallout like InvestmentNews' Bruce Kelly has, but we found one who has covered it even more comprehensively and at a granular level in Tim Carpenter of the Kansas Reflector. - Dec. 1, 2025
Bradley Heppner allegedly spent more than $40 million to renovate and decorate his Texas mansion. - Nov. 7, 2025
GWG bond investors have incurred $1 billion in losses, according to the Department of Justice. - Nov. 6, 2025
Most firms place a limit on advisors’ sales of alternative investments to clients in the neighborhood of 10% a customer’s net worth. - Aug. 22, 2025
Emerson Equity and its advisor, Tony Barouti, were likely the largest sellers of defunct GWG L bonds. - Aug. 13, 2025
Mayer Brown, GWG's law firm, agreed to pay $30 million to resolve conflict of interest claims. - June 20, 2025
“Insurance is paramount in the broker-dealer industry, but you have to have insurance that pays,” a plaintiff's attorney said. - Sept. 20, 2024
"This is one of the largest emotional distress damages awarded in Finra’s history,” says attorney. - Sept. 10, 2024
"This was not a systemic issue for us," says LifeMark Securities' CEO James Prisco. - July 30, 2024
By 2020, 'GWG had shown years of losses and large negative cash flows,' a securities arbitrator writes. - April 18, 2024
"We have a handful of open cases against Arete Wealth, and some involve Center Street, as well," says a plaintiff's attorney. - April 15, 2024
Where Wall Street goes, trouble is sure to follow. - Feb. 29, 2024
"It's not a good day for Austin Dutton," says one attorney. - Dec. 18, 2023
The securities industry has a long, sad history of firms going out of business after a product like GWG bonds fails. - Nov. 30, 2023
Titan Securities is already among the departed. It's not footing the bill for its own funeral. - Nov. 14, 2023
"We don’t agree with the decision but, with Finra arbitration, there is no appeal," says William H. McCance, president of Ages Financial Services. - Nov. 7, 2023
'The financial advisor recommended he put the entire amount in GWG L bonds,' the claimant's attorney says. - Oct. 31, 2023
'I intend to vigorously defend myself against these claims,' broker Tony Barouti states. - Sept. 28, 2023
Arizona-based Arque Capital Ltd. sold bonds issued by bankrupt GWG Holdings Inc. - July 13, 2023
Irvine-based JRL Capital Corp. reported total assets of $43,000 and total investor claims against the firm of $2.5 million. - May 31, 2023
Austin Dutton last week lost an industry arbitration claim of $43,645 to a client related to sales of GWG bonds. - May 30, 2023
Open claims against the Iowa-based broker-dealer totaled $32.1 million at the end of 2022, eight times what it reported a year earlier, according to an SEC filing. - April 3, 2023
The SEC said brokers in the firm's Lexington, South Carolina, branch office recommended variable interest rate structured products to dozens of retail customers for whom they weren't suitable. - Feb. 8, 2023
The advisor, Anthony B. Liddle, 40, was barred from the securities industry last June by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. - Jan. 25, 2023
While stock and bond funds have seen assets decline, direct ownership of individual bonds has increased over the past year. - Dec. 22, 2022
GWG was a 'classic Ponzi scheme,' according to a group representing investors. - Dec. 21, 2022
Over the past 12 months, the company's shares have fallen from a high of $10.55 to Monday's price of $1.03. - Nov. 14, 2022
'No one is going to want to settle with broker-dealers over GWG claims until the bankruptcy is resolved,' an attorney said about the lawsuit filed by Emerson Equity. - Oct. 18, 2022
Bruce takes the pod solo this week and interviews InvestmentNews senior reporter Mark Schoeff Jr. about the SEC's lawsuit against Western International Securities Inc. There's much to unpack about the lawsuit, which involves GWG bonds and violations of Reg BI. Bruce and Mark talk through the specific charges, how effective Reg BI has been during its two years of operation, and the potential outcome of the case. - June 27, 2022
Investor advocates differ on whether the case against brokers selling risky bonds — L bonds offered by GWG Holdings — fulfills Reg BI's investor-protection promises. - June 16, 2022
When wholesalers leave a broker-dealer en masse, it's a signal that the firm's efforts to sell more product and generate more revenue could be greatly hampered. - June 16, 2022
Bill Hamm of IFP Securities said the SEC started its inquiries last year into broker-dealers that had sold GWG bonds. - June 9, 2022
Marc Korsch, who was booted from the securities industry last year, has a staggering 33 disclosure items on his BrokerCheck report. - May 31, 2022
In its annual audited financial statement, Emerson Equity reported that problems related to an unnamed offering potentially could harm the firm. - May 23, 2022
Broker-dealers kept selling GWG's life settlement-backed bonds for years despite all the accounting and reporting static coming from the company. - May 11, 2022
Tony Barouti, a broker registered with Emerson Equity, faces two investor complaints alleging $1.37 million in damages, according to his BrokerCheck profile.
The SEC's probe of GWG spilled over to include the sales practices of some of the 145 broker-dealers that sold the bonds, according to bankruptcy filings. - April 20, 2022
The market has been anticipating the move for more than two weeks; the company has struggled of late and repeatedly missed the deadline to file audited financial statements in the past couple of years. - April 20, 2022
Shares of the beleaguered alternative investment manager hit a new low of $1.78 in trading Thursday morning. - April 7, 2022
Investors in the $1.6 billion of bonds issued by GWG face dire consequence if the alternative asset manager files for bankruptcy. - April 4, 2022
When asked whether GWG's L Bonds were in default, a company spokesperson declines to comment. - Feb. 16, 2022
GWG Holdings Inc., an investor in life settlements, missed $13.6 million in payments this month to investors in its L Bonds. - Jan. 26, 2022
In volatile markets, the advisors who win aren't the ones with the best calls - they're the ones whose clients stay the course.
According to Flyer Financial Technologies, rising portfolio complexity is exposing the limits of legacy infrastructure and widening the gap between automation and reality
The "Crypto Mom" departure would leave the SEC commission with just two members and no Democratic commissioners on the panel.
IFP Securities’ owner, Bill Hamm, has a long-term plan for the firm and its 279 financial advisors.
Meanwhile, a Osaic and Envestnet ink a new adaptive wealthtech partnership to better support the firm's 10,000-plus advisors, and RIA-focused VastAdvisor unveils native integrations with leading CRMs.
According to Flyer Financial Technologies, rising portfolio complexity is exposing the limits of legacy infrastructure and widening the gap between automation and reality
In volatile markets, the advisors who win aren't the ones with the best calls - they're the ones whose clients stay the course.
