The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil enforcement action against Cary Edward Urich, a former investment adviser representative with United Planners’ Financial Services of America. The SEC alleges that Urich put clients into leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It says he invested too much of their money in these products and held them far longer than suited their circumstances.
On October 30, 2026, the SEC announced that Urich had agreed to a proposed final judgment. It includes a $100,000 civil penalty and a two-year ban on acting as or associating with an investment adviser. When the SEC made the announcement, the judgment still needed court approval.
The SEC’s Allegations
According to the SEC’s complaint, Urich had discretionary authority over the accounts of 54 advisory clients from April 2020 through November 2023. The SEC alleges that he put large parts of those clients’ savings and retirement funds into five leveraged and inverse ETFs. Most of the clients were older investors, with an average age of 71.
The SEC says these investments were out of step with the clients’ own profiles. Most had growth or growth-and-income objectives and moderate or moderately aggressive risk tolerances.
The funds’ prospectuses and regulatory guidance warned about the risks of holding these products for more than short periods. Even so, the SEC alleges that Urich held them in client accounts for an average of 798 days. It also says he didn’t adequately disclose the long holding periods, certain risks, or the funds’ negative historical returns. According to the SEC, the 54 clients lost about 70% of the money they had invested in these ETFs.
Why These Products Carry Unique Risks
Leveraged and inverse ETFs are built to deliver a multiple of a benchmark’s daily performance, or its opposite. Because returns compound daily, results over weeks, months, or years can differ sharply from the underlying index. That gap can be especially large in volatile markets. The funds involved in this case were tied to the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Russell 2000, the Nasdaq-100, and a VIX futures index.
These products are generally designed for short-term trading by sophisticated investors. They’re not usually meant to be held long-term in retirement accounts.
United Planners Settles With the SEC
The SEC also brought a separate, settled administrative proceeding against United Planners. The SEC found that the firm failed to put in place certain policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations of the Investment Advisers Act.
United Planners did not admit the SEC’s findings. It agreed to a cease-and-desist order, a censure, and a $600,000 civil penalty, payable within 30 days.
The SEC’s order also describes how the firm responded after an investor filed an arbitration claim in 2022. A firm committee later concluded that the ETFs were unsuitable for the affected clients and restricted new purchases. However, according to the SEC, the firm didn’t require clients to sell their existing positions. It also didn’t monitor whether continuing to hold them was still in the clients’ best interests.
Where the Case Stands
The SEC’s case against Urich is a civil enforcement action in federal court. He agreed to the proposed judgment without admitting the SEC’s allegations. When the SEC announced the agreement on October 30, the judgment was still awaiting court approval.
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