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SLCG Economic Consulting, founded in 2000, provides finance, economics and investment management consulting and expert witnesses to law firms, banks, brokerage firms and individuals involved in complex litigation. Our experts, mainly PhD and MA level professionals with academic, industry and government experience have testified in state and federal court and in various arbitration forums.

Our Research

Our experts have published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. Pre-publication versions of these papers plus other working papers are available below.

Rating Brokerage Firms by Their Complaint Histories Rather Than by Their Brokers' Histories

In our previous research, we ranked brokerage firms based on the proportion of their brokers on December 31, 2015 who had been associated with at least one resolved customer complaint. That approach assigns a higher ranking to a firm if a larger proportion of its current brokers have one or more resolved customer complaint in their career, regardless whether the complaints occurred at their current employer or at a prior employer.

Our new research ranks brokerage firms based on the frequency of customer complaints over conduct at each firm, including both resolved and pending. That is, we rank firms based on their history rather than on their current brokers' histories.

UBS's Yield Enhancement Strategy ("YES") Returns - and then the Losses - Were Caused by Equity Market Exposure

UBS marketed YES as market-neutral based on a combination of four options is sometimes referred to as an "Iron Condor". UBS accounts subjected to YES treatment suffered losses of 12% to 14% in December 2018 when the S&P 500 dropped 9.2% because the overlay was more than 100% In this paper the authors we explain the option basics necessary to understand the YES strategy and illustrate how UBS actually implemented the strategy with predictably disastrous results. They also present how UBS described the strategy in its marketing materials.

Recent Results

We have a track record of success over 20 years long. Read the awards, decisions, and orders we have helped clients achieve.

SLCG in the News

Our experts are often featured in prominent news outlets. Read how we are influencing the world of finance and securities litigation.

With Puerto Rico settlement in sight, clients win $4.8M award from UBS

Tobias Salinger's With Puerto Rico settlement in sight, clients win $4.8M award from UBS" Financial Planning story reports on a recent recent settlement of $4.8 million in relation to arbitration filings in Puerto Rico. UBS has been accused of unauthorized use of lines of credit and margin, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, unsuitability and negligence by multiple high profile clients following the crash of the Puerto Rico bond market, and SLCG's Edward O'Neal is quoted saying that this is common when a broker finds a particular product, and begins suggesting it to every client they have. If that product goes under, they have to answer to each of those clients that lost money under their fiduciary care.

Consultant: West Virginia city was bombarded with opioids

The Washington Times' "Consultant: West Virginia city was bombarded with opioids" story reports on three companies that have been involved in complex litigation for shipping overwhelming amounts of opioids into the state of West Virginia from 2006 to 2014. Dr. McCann testified in this case, and is quoted in the article saying that of the 110 million doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone that were shipped into the state, over 90% were from the defendants. That covers just two of the many prescription drugs that these companies are responsible for pumping into Cabell County and Huntington. This inexcusable lack of judgement was reflected in the defendants responses, showing no remorse for their role and failing to fight claims made against them by Dr. McCann.

An image of the management team of SLCG Economic Consulting posing in the office conference room.