SEC bars advisor who claimed he managed “trillions” for clients

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday barred a financial advisor who told a whopper on official documents: that his firm managed more than $11 trillion in client assets when, in reality, it had less than $25 million.

Ruben Cedric Williams, 31 and a resident of Nashville, Tenn., was the CEO, chief compliance officer and co-owner of Vista Financial Advisors, which was based on Wall Street in Manhattan.

Last September, the SEC sued Williams and Vista Financial Advisors, alleging the two had violated industry rules by making false claims and statements on its Form ADV, the form advisors use to register with the SEC and states.

In April 2022, Williams and the firm stated on Vista's Form ADV that Vista had $10 billion in client assets, but failed to provide the SEC with evidence to corroborate this statement.

Williams and Vista “ignored repeated requests” from SEC staff to substantiate, correct, or withdraw the statement regarding Vista's assets, according to the SEC. In fact, the firm’s assets “did not remotely approach the $10 billion” in client assets.

Williams and Vista then “compounded the misrepresentation” by filing an updated Form ADV in 2023, stating the firm’s assets had grown to nearly $11.5 trillion.

“To the extent that Vista had any [client assets], such assets did not remotely approach the $11.5 trillion stated in the 2023 Form ADV,” according to the SEC. The firm did not manage at least $25 million, according to the SEC.

Williams agreed to the SEC’s findings in the matter without admission or denial. He could not be reached Friday to comment.

“This sounds like a story of a potential scam artist who falsified financial information to try to gain the confidence of potential clients and investors,” said Brandon Reif, an industry attorney. “The red flag is, he was a thirty-something financial advisor portraying himself as being incredibly successful and wealthy.”

In addition to the false statements of the firm’s assets and according to the SEC, Vista’s 2022 Form ADV failed to disclose the identity of one of Vista's owners, who is not named, and misstated how Vista's ownership interest was divided up among its remaining owners.

Williams, the firm’s co-owner, CEO and chief compliance officer, signed and certified both the 2022 and 2023 Form ADV filings.