The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Brendan Matthew Ross, the owner and former CEO of defunct registered investment adviser Direct Lending Investments of Glendale, California, with “directing an intricate, multi-year effort to fraudulently inflate the value and returns for an investment position held by the funds that DLI advised.”
The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California has filed criminal charges against Ross.
The SEC's complaint alleges that from early 2014 through late 2017, Ross manipulated payment data for the funds' investment in loans made by QuarterSpot Inc., an online small business lender. Ross allegedly directed QuarterSpot to make payments to the funds, which gave the false impression that underlying borrowers were making principal payments on what were actually delinquent loans.
As a result of the scheme, the monthly returns DLI reported to investors were materially inflated, the SEC charged, while DLI allegedly collected at least $5 million in extra management and performance fees from the funds, and Ross personally received millions of dollars from DLI.
In 2019, the SEC charged DLI with fraud and placed the firm and its affiliates in receivership.
Schwab wants RIAs on Claude’s enterprise plan for its security controls, but most of its firms are too small to fill the 20-seat minimum
Echelon Partners counted 125 wealth management deals in Q3 2026, with the quarter's biggest deal targets by assets selling minority stakes rather than getting swallowed.
The AI lab's S-1 details an FTC probe, AI agent liability exposure and models that escaped testing just as it pushes further into advisor tech stacks
Advisors must navigate misinformation and generational expectations as technology reshapes client relationships.
The regulator has been trying to reach imprisoned advisor Jason Foley.
Knighthead Life entered the market with a competitive MYGA. A strong launch earned advisor confidence and paved the way for FIAs.
As AI makes financial information more accessible than ever, Lana Hock explains why human judgment, trust, and empathy remain the qualities clients value most in a financial advisor
