Darren J. Caris and Caris Investment Partners, Inc.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26669 / October 8, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Darren J. Caris and Caris Investment Partners, Inc., No. 26-civ-5714 (S.D. Cal. filed Oct. 6, 2026)

SEC Charges Encinitas Investment Adviser and his Advisory Firm in Alleged Fraudulent “Cherry-Picking” Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Darren J. Caris and his investment advisory firm Caris Investment Partners, Inc., based in Encinitas, California, for allegedly defrauding clients by conducting a cherry-picking scheme and making related false and misleading statements. 

According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, from December 2023 to April 2024, Caris used his firm’s block trading account to place trades and later in the day disproportionately allocate profitable trades to his personal account and unprofitable trades to some of his clients’ accounts.  The complaint also alleges that Caris and his firm made false and misleading statements to their clients and prospective clients concerning their allocation of trades, their management of conflicts of interest relating to Caris’s own personal trading, and their move to a different broker-dealer custodian. 

The SEC charges Caris and Caris Investment Partners with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.  The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. 

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by staff in its Los Angeles Regional Office and supervised by Robert Conrrad and Brent Wilner.  The litigation will be led by Daniel Lim and supervised by Stephen Kam.