SEC Charges Cary Urich Over Leveraged ETF Losses for 54 Clients
SEC charges adviser Cary Urich over leveraged and inverse ETFs held for 798 days on average, alleging 54 clients lost about 70% of their ETF investments.
Summary
In Litigation Release No. 26681 dated October 30, 2026, the SEC said it charged Greenville, South Carolina investment adviser Cary Edward Urich in SEC v. Cary Edward Urich, 6:26-cv-05267-JDA, filed October 29 in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. From April 2020 to November 2023, while an investment adviser representative at United Planners’ Financial Services of America A LP, Urich allegedly used discretionary authority to concentrate savings and retirement funds from 54 clients, most elderly, in leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds unsuitable for their profiles, objectives and risk tolerances.
Although prospectuses and regulatory notices Urich reviewed warned against holding the complex products longer than one day, he allegedly held them for an average 798 days. The SEC says he did not disclose that his holding periods conflicted with those warnings or disclose the investments’ negative historical returns; affected clients lost approximately 70% of the amounts invested in the products.
Without admitting the allegations, Urich consented to a final judgment, subject to court approval, permanently enjoining violations of Investment Advisers Act Sections 206(1) and 206(2), barring investment adviser activity or association for two years and imposing a $100,000 civil penalty. The SEC separately instituted settled administrative proceedings against United Planners and cited its earlier Investor Bulletin on leveraged and inverse ETF risks. Robert Stillwell and Daniel Lim conducted the Los Angeles Regional Office investigation under Sarah Nilson and Brent Wilner, with assistance from Artur Minkin and Ignacio Franceschelli of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis; Christopher Wacker conducted the examination under Dara Campbell.
Positives
- Urich consented to a final judgment, without admitting the allegations, that would permanently enjoin future violations of the cited antifraud provisions.
- A two-year prohibition on acting as or associating with an investment adviser would apply if the court approves the judgment.
- The proposed resolution includes a $100,000 civil money penalty.
- The SEC instituted separate settled administrative proceedings against United Planners arising from the same conduct.
- The SEC previously published an Investor Bulletin addressing leveraged and inverse ETF risks.
Risks & concerns
- Fifty-four clients, most elderly, allegedly had large concentrations of savings and retirement funds placed in unsuitable leveraged or inverse ETFs.
- Average holding periods reached 798 days despite prospectuses and regulatory guidance cautioning against holding the products longer than one day.
- Affected clients lost approximately 70% of their investments in the products, according to the SEC complaint.
- Urich allegedly withheld that his holding periods conflicted with product warnings and failed to disclose the investments’ negative historical returns.
- The complaint alleges fiduciary and antifraud violations spanning April 2020 through November 2023.