The SEC charged an investment adviser with more than $150 billion in RAUM, Empower Advisory Group, LLC, and its affiliated broker-dealer, Empower Financial Services, Inc., with failure to disclose a compensation system that incentivized certain government markets retirement plan advisors with bonuses and merit raises to enroll plan participants in a fee-based managed account service. The SEC noted that the firm did not adequately disclose to plan participants whether representatives were acting in the capacity of a registered representative of the broker-dealer or an investment advisory representative. The case pointed to disclosures noting that certain advisors were salaried and/or noncommissioned and that they were acting in a fiduciary capacity and assured plan participants that they were providing disinterested advice without disclosing such advisors' financial incentive to enroll participants in the managed account service. The SEC highlighted inadequate and misleading disclosure on the firm's website, which included language about its compensation practices but did not fully and fairly disclose all material facts related to such compensation. The firm was further faulted for not following its Conflicts of Interest Policy, which required it to review and mitigate such conflicts. The firms were charged with violations of Section 206 under the Investment Advisers Act and Regulation Best Interest ("Reg BI") under the Securities Exchange Act and agreed to pay approximately $10 million in disgorgement and penalties to settle the case.