Were you the victim of American Portfolios Advisors, Inc.?
In July 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged former American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. investment adviser for “failing to adequately disclose conflicts of interest, overbilling its clients, and, through its former chief compliance officer, Colin Michael Moors (“Moors”), and its former president, Gary Bruce Gordon (“Gordon”), creating backdated documents and providing them to SEC staff during a compliance examination.”
American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. is an independent broker-dealer that also owned the registered investment advisor (RIA). In 2022, it was sold to Osaic, formerly Advisor Group. American Portfolios Financial Services closed in October 2024, consolidating its broker-dealers and RIAs under one brand. The firm has approximately $13 billion in assets.
According to the SEC release, the firm breached its fiduciary duty to advisory clients by “failing to fully and fairly disclose the nature and extent of conflicts of interest associated with certain compensation paid to APA’s affiliated broker-dealer by an unaffiliated clearing broker in connection with trade execution and account services, resulting in additional costs to clients.”
The SEC ordered the firm to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $1.75 million for over-billing clients on alternative investments held in registered investment advisor accounts. It also charged them with failing to inform clients of conflicts of interest related to compensation the firm earned from a clearing firm.
Colin Michael Moors consented to cease-and-desist orders and censures and to pay a civil penalty of $10,000. Gary Bruce Gordon consented to a civil penalty of $20,000.
According to the SEC’s order, American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. did not disclose that the affiliated broker-dealer charged fee markups on various types of transactions and account service fees. They allegedly misleadingly indicated that the unaffiliated clearing broker determined the amounts of the fees billed to American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. clients. The SEC alleges that the firm “erroneously billed and collected advisory fees on alternative investment positions, although no fees were supposed to be assessed on those positions, and it failed to refund a pro rata portion of prepaid quarterly advisory fees when clients terminated their accounts, as provided in APA’s client agreements.”
Pursuant to FINRA Rules, member firms are responsible for supervising a broker’s activities during the time the broker is registered with the firm. Therefore, American Portfolios Advisors may be liable for investment or other losses suffered by its customers.
Erez Law represents investors in the United States for claims against brokers and brokerage firms for wrongdoing. If you have experienced investment losses, please call us at 888-840-1571 or complete our contact form for a free consultation. Erez Law is a nationally recognized law firm representing individuals, trusts, corporations and institutions in claims against brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies on a contingency fee basis.
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