HOUSTON, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lawyers with Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) continue to investigate claims and assist investors in pursuing their financial losses related to their investments in UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy (“YES”). This complex investment strategy involves options trades and borrowing that was supposed to be “safe” and low risk while earning investors positive returns. While this strategy, in theory, may work in a stable, low volatility market environment, the increased volatility within the market since the end of 2018 has caused investors in the UBS YES program to experience significant investment losses.
The Yield Enhancement Strategy program is implemented through the purchase of four options – two puts and two calls - with the same date of expiration, but not at the same strike price. Investors have reported they were told that through the strategic selling and buying of SPX index options spreads and an “iron condor” strategy, they could make “incremental” returns with the possibility of making money via low yield assets. However, the YES program has failed investors, many of whom have suffered substantial financial losses. Investor complaints that include claims that this investment was unsuitable as investors weren’t qualified to take on an investment strategy that involved options and leverage, that misrepresentations and omissions were made to them by their broker, that the significant risks of this program were not adequately disclosed, and that the actual trading strategy was inconsistent with the advertised policy in the marketing materials, to name a few.
UBS is not the only brokerage firm that sold its clients on the YES Strategy. Other investment firms to use this approach have included Morgan Stanley (MS), Credit Suisse (CS), and Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch (BAC). Broker-dealers reportedly continue to employ YES and earn significant commissions despite investors’ steep losses.
If you invested in UBS’s YES program and suffered losses, please contact the law firm of Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas, LLP today for a free, confidential evaluation of your account(s). We have a team of attorneys, consultants, and staff with over 100 years of combined experience in the securities industry and in securities law that are ready to assist you in recovering your investment losses today.
Contact Info: 800-259-9010
Sam Edwards: sedwards@sseklaw.com
Kirk Smith: ksmith@sseklaw.com