Ray Lucia, the host of a nationally syndicated daily radio program and Los Angeles financial adviser, has been sued by the SEC. In a complaint commencing an administrative proceeding, the SEC alleged that Mr. Lucia misled investors about his “Buckets of Money” investment strategy for retirement savings. According to the SEC, Mr. Lucia falsely told potential investors that his strategy was “proven” and “back-tested.” Mr. Lucia also allegedly told future retirees his strategy would produce inflation-adjusted income while protecting or even enhancing their retirement savings.
The SEC asserts that Mr. Lucia and his firm, then called Raymond J. Lucia Cos. Inc., performed “scant, if any, actual back-tests.” (“Adviser with national radio show misled prospective clients, SEC says,” by Liz Skinner, InvestmentNews.)
“Lucia and RJL left their seminar attendees with a false sense of comfort about ‘Buckets of Money,’ ” Michele Wein Layne, director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office, was quoted as saying, adding: “The so-called back-tests weren’t really back-tests, and the strategy wasn’t proven as they claimed.”
Mr. Lucia’s position appears to be that he ceased making those claims when the SEC first approached him 2 years ago, and there have been no customer complaints. The Ray Lucia Show began in 1991 and was syndicated nationwide in 2000.
The SEC is reportedly seeking a cease-and-desist order and also will ask that Mr. Lucia pay a civil penalty.
Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 170 years of collective experience maintaining integrity in the investment markets and protecting investor rights.