Two BMO advisory firms have agreed to pay over $37 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading clients on aspects of their retail investment advisory program.
According to the SEC’s order, from at least July 2012 through March 2016, BMO Harris Financial Advisors (BMO Harris) and BMO Asset Management Corp. (BMO Asset Mgmt.) failed to tell clients about certain aspects of how advisers selected investments in their Managed Asset Allocation Program (MAAP). The firms allegedly invested approximately 50 percent of MAAP client assets in proprietary funds managed by BMO Asset Mgmt., which led to the payment of additional management fees to BMO Asset Mgmt.
