Osaic Wealth and Stifel Nicolaus & Co may have unsuitably recommended clients invest in Easterly ROCMuni High Income Municipal Bond Funds (RMHIX), which has since lost about half of its value. Formerly known as Principal Street High Yield Fund, according to InvestmentNews, the Easterly Fund was "speculative high risk" and should not have been recommended to retail clients.
The report states the Easterly Fund was marketed as municipal bonds, but were significantly riskier and less suitable than most muni bonds. For instance, Easterly was not actually backed by a municipality and, instead, relied on small companies and securities that were rated below investment-grade, otherwise known as junk bonds.
That made Easterly Funds more speculative, which generally is less suitable for conservative-to-moderate retail investors seeking more steady rates of return.
Stifel Nicolaus, which recommended the Easterly Fund to some customers, said they were investigating "how its management of the fund led to investor losses," which exceeded 56% for the year, with most of the collapse occuring in June 2025.
The Easterly Fund's dangerous may have been spotted as early as 2023, when Northstar warned about GMHIX and GMJAX, the Principal Street Income Municipal bond fund, in part because the lower rating and because these bonds were more concentrated than standard municipal funds, another factor which drove up risk.
All of these factors suggest the high-risk junk bond fund should not have been recommended to retail clients.
If you invested in Eastern ROCMuni High Income Municipal Bonds Fund, Principal Street High Yield Fund, with Osaic Wealth, Stifel Nicolaus & Co, or with any broker, investment adviser, or representative who unsuitably recommended you invest in a risky product resulting in losses or damages, call an experienced FINRA arbitration attorney at The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.