Robo-Adviser Wahed Invest LLC

Attention clients of Wahed Invest LLC who may have lost money through the robo-advisory program. In a recent press release, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged New York-based robo-adviser Wahed Invest LLC (Also know as Wahed, Wahed Invest Inc., Wahed Invest)  with making misleading statements and breaching its fiduciary duty.  The SEC also charged Wahed with compliance failures related to its Shari’ah advisory business.
According to the SEC’s order, from September of 2018 through July of 2019, Wahed Invest advertised “the existence of its own proprietary funds when no such funds existed, and also promised investors that it would periodically rebalance their advisory accounts, but did not do so.”
The SEC’s order alleges that when Wahed Invest launched a proprietary ETF in July of 2019, it used its clients’ advisory assets to seed the ETF without the prior disclosure to clients of any conflicts of interest.
The SEC order also alleged that Wahed Invest marketed itself as providing advisory services that are compliant with Islamic, or Shari’ah law.  This allegedly included marketing the importance of its income purification process on its website. According to the SEC, Wahed Invest “did not adopt and implement written policies and procedures addressing how it would assure Shari’ah compliance on an ongoing basis.”
Adam S. Aderton, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit stated, “Robo-advisers, like other advisers, must ensure that their marketing materials are not misleading and that conflicts are disclosed to investors. Registered investment advisers like Wahed Invest must also adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the adviser from deviating from its claimed investment process.”
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Wahed Invest agreed to a cease-and-desist order, to pay a $300,000 penalty, and to retain an independent compliance consultant among other undertakings.
If you or a family member experienced financial losses due to the robo-advisory program with Wahed Invest LLC, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee basis, no fee to you if no recovery. We represent our clients nationwide before FINRA.