A New York money manager who once worked with personal finance guru Suze Orman has settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he allegedly misled investors about his success through 140-character tweets and an email newsletter to 60,000 subscribers.
The SEC said it charged New York-based Mark Grimaldi, of Navigator Money Management, with making false claims about investment advice to puff up his success, including the allegation that he "cherry-picked highlights but ignored less favorable recommendations and other data that would have made the facts complete".
Grimaldi, whose performance claims were questioned by the SEC in 2008 then by the Wall Street Journal in 2012, agreed to a penalty of $100,000 and to maintain an independent compliance consultant for three years. The Journal called Grimaldi "Suze Orman's investing guru." Orman cut ties with Grimaldi soon after, stressing that she had no involvement in his stock picks.
The SEC charged Grimaldi with using his popular newsletter, The Money Navigator, as well as his Twitterpresence to present high-flying investment performance.
In one "materially misleading" claim in The Money Navigator, according to the SEC, Grimaldi told investors that one of his funds was ranked No1 out of 375 in a group tracked by Morningstar.
The SEC said Grimaldi highlighted the fund's performance during only a one-year period, and that it "had a poorer relative performance during other time periods".
The SEC charged Grimaldi with using his popular newsletter, The Money Navigator, as well as his Twitterpresence to present high-flying investment performance.
In one "materially misleading" claim in The Money Navigator, according to the SEC, Grimaldi told investors that one of his funds was ranked No1 out of 375 in a group tracked by Morningstar.
The SEC said Grimaldi highlighted the fund's performance during only a one-year period, and that it "had a poorer relative performance during other time periods".
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