Transamerica Entities to Pay $97 Million to Investors Relating to Errors in Quantitative Investment

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission press release --------- he Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against four Transamerica entities for misconduct involving faulty investment models and ordered the entities to refund $97 million to misled retail investors. According to the SEC’s order, investors put billions of dollars into mutual funds and strategies using the faulty models developed by investment adviser AEGON USA Investment Management LLC (AUIM). AUIM, its affiliated investment advisers Transamerica Asset Management Inc. (TAM) and Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc., and its affiliated broker-dealer Transamerica Capital Inc., claimed that investment decisions would be based on AUIM’s quantitative models. The SEC’s order finds that the models, which were developed solely by an inexperienced, junior AUIM analyst, contained numerous errors, and did not work as promised. The SEC found that when AUIM and TAM learned about the errors, they stopped using the models without telling investors or disclosing the errors. To learn more click on the picture below to read the release.