Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. (“Voya Financial”) (CRD# 2882) has many different complaints filed by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), state regulatory organizations, and investors such as yourself.
Is Voya Financial Advisors in trouble?
Voya Financial is not in major trouble, but the company is facing significant challenges in 2024-2025, particularly with its stop-loss insurance business. The company reported strong results in Wealth Solutions and Investment Management for the fourth quarter and full year were offset by higher loss ratios in Health Solutions.
Voya Financial announces fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results | Voya.com The company is prepared to lose customers to get prices up to profitable levels, executives said. Voya is doubling stop-loss price increases for 2025
The primary issue centers around their Health Solutions division, specifically stop-loss insurance. The ratio of benefits payments to premium revenue soared to 115% in the fourth quarter of 2024, from 76% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Voya’s stop-loss price increases average 21%, or higher, for 2025. This has forced Voya to implement aggressive pricing increases, with average rate increases for coverage renewals in January 2025 will be twice as big as the average rate increases for January 2024 renewals were. Voya is doubling stop-loss price increases for 2025
Despite these challenges, the company remains financially viable. Full-year 2024 net income available to common shareholders of $626 million, or $6.17 per diluted share. Voya Financial announces fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results | Voya.com Additionally, Voya completed a major acquisition, purchasing OneAmerica Financial’s retirement plan business in January 2025, indicating confidence in its long-term strategy.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE COMPLAINTS AND REGULATORY PROBLEMS VOYA FINANCIAL HAS FACED OVER THE YEARS
Voya Financial has accumulated a concerning pattern of regulatory violations and customer complaints. The firm has approximately 42 state and self-regulatory body disclosure events on its record.
Recent regulatory actions include a $500,000 FINRA fine in January 2024 for paying transaction-based compensation to an unregistered entity. In 2020, the SEC ordered Voya to pay $22.9 million for breaching fiduciary duties to advisory clients through various conflicts of interest, including recommending more expensive mutual fund share classes and steering clients into underperforming money market funds.
The company has also faced cybersecurity issues. In 2018, Voya was fined $1 million by the SEC for deficient cybersecurity procedures after intruders gained access to 5,600 customer accounts through password resets.
Customer complaints continue to surface in 2024-2025, particularly regarding delayed payments, difficulty withdrawing retirement funds, and poor customer service. Multiple reviews describe months-long struggles to access their own money, incorrect address updates, and inconsistent responses from customer service representatives.
The pattern suggests ongoing supervisory and compliance weaknesses typical of independent broker-dealers operating with remote oversight structures. These issues, combined with the current stop-loss insurance challenges, indicate that while Voya isn’t facing imminent collapse, it continues to struggle with operational and regulatory compliance problems that affect customer experience and profitability.
Can I Sue Voya Financial?
Yes, you can sue Voya Financial if you’ve lost money due to the misconduct of the firm or its employees. However, in most cases, you likely signed away your right to pursue a lawsuit in court and instead agreed to resolve disputes through a FINRA arbitration proceeding.
What is Voya Financial?
Voya Financial (CRD# 2882) is a registered broker-dealer. It operates as a full-service independent broker-dealer, providing a range of financial products and services to individual investors and financial advisors.
As a registered broker-dealer, Voya Financial is subject to regulations and oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). It is required to comply with industry standards and regulations to ensure the protection of its clients’ interests.
A failure to comply with industry standards by either its brokers or the firm itself can result in disciplinary actions, fines, or other penalties imposed by regulatory authorities.
Examples of Regulatory Problems and Complaints for Voya Financial
Voya Financial’s rapid growth has not been without consequences. There have been approximately 42 state and self-regulatory body disclosure events; that is, final and formal proceedings initiated by a regulatory authority (e.g., a state or federal securities agency like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or self-regulatory body like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for a violation(s) of investment-related rules or regulations. In addition, there have been hundreds of customer complaints filed against Voya Financial for misconduct by its securities sales and investment advisory representatives that are not reported by the firm on its Central Depository Record.
We have reported and written about these regulatory problems and customer complaints over many years. Voya Financial is a repeat offender: there are over 42 FINRA-reported disciplinary proceedings citing the firm with one form of supervisory lapses or another.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE COMPLAINTS AND REGULATORY PROBLEMS VOYA FINANCIAL HAS FACED OVER THE YEARS
Voya Financial has been repeatedly censured, warned, and fined multi-millions of dollars for its own misconduct and failure to supervise its army of financial advisors.* A few of the notable FINRA Sanctions for its Supervisory Failures are below:
Voya Financial Settles with SEC for $22.9 Million Over Alleged Conflicts and Breaches
Brief Overview: Voya Financial Advisors settled with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $22.9 million, including $13.9 million in restitution and interest to harmed customers. The settlement was reached due to alleged conflicts at Voya’s registered investment advisor arm, which led to breaches of fiduciary obligations to advisory clients. The SEC found that from January 2013 to December 2018, Voya’s investment adviser representatives made recommendations that charged costlier 12b-1 marketing fees, charged upfront commissions for expensive alternative investments, recommended underperforming cash sweep money market funds, and provided misleading comparisons to transfer funds to a bank cash sweep product. In addition to the restitution, Voya Financial will pay a $9 million civil penalty.
SEC Fines Voya Financial $3.1 Million for Undisclosed Payments from Clearing Broker
Brief Overview: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has censured and fined Voya Financial Advisors $3.1 million for failing to disclose payments from its clearing broker for selling clients funds from the broker’s no-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual fund platform. Voya agreed to fund revenue-sharing and service-fee sharing arrangements without adequately disclosing the resulting conflict of interest to its clients. The SEC also found that Voya lacked supervisory procedures to ensure proper disclosure. The penalty includes $2.7 million in disgorgement to customers and a $300,000 civil penalty. Voya terminated its service fee arrangement with the clearing firm and agreed to send copies of the agreement to all its existing advisory clients.
Why Does Voya Financial Have So Many Regulatory Problems And Customer Complaints?
Independent broker-dealers are notorious for their lax supervisory practices and procedures. The business model of these franchise type operations is to open many offices nationwide for steady growth of fixed monthly revenues without the costs attendant to a full-service branch office with on-site manager, compliance officer and operation personnel. The registered representatives of these independent broker-dealers generally operate as separately incorporated businesses. They are not employees of the broker-dealer and therefore not controlled in the same manner as full-service brokerage firm representatives. The registered representatives control their structure and costs to maximize profits and often leave the protection of investors’ rights and interests as their lowest priority.
The typical supervisory organization of independent broker-dealer operations is to have other independent contractors operate Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs) to monitor the registered representatives from geographically remote offices and then report to the main franchisor’s compliance office at national headquarters. The supervisors at the OSJs are not employees of the franchisor and often run their own brokerage, insurance and other businesses. They are not devoted full-time supervisors of the smaller branch offices. Consequently, OSJ managers cannot and do not supervise the day-to-day operations of the registered representatives of these Independent broker-dealers.
Generally, there is no immediate review of new accounts opened, securities transactions, business records, cash or securities receipts and deliveries, correspondence and business activities unrelated to the securities brokerage operation at these independent brokerage firms. The lax supervision leaves investors who have transferred their accounts to the smaller independent broker-dealer vulnerable to sales of securities that have not been reviewed or authorized by anyone other than the sales representative earning a commission. There may be no one onsite to detect forgeries of clients’ signatures on documents, the placement of inaccurate information about a client’s investment objectives and financial condition to document the suitability of a particular investment recommendation. Oftentimes there is no daily review of sales literature and client correspondence to protect against misrepresentations and misleading statements being made to investors. In fact, it is not unusual for there to be only one compliance audit visit per year at many of these offices.
These Independent brokerage business operations are worrisome to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which has documented more instances of sales abuse and consequently investor losses at these firms than the traditional brokerage firms with branch offices with on-site managers and compliance personnel.
How to File an official Complaint Against Voya Financial or one of its brokers, with FINRA
File a complaint against Voya Financial through FINRA if you experienced misconduct, fraud, or negligence by one of its financial advisors. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce has investigated Voya for years and represented investors in regulatory and arbitration actions involving breach of fiduciary duty, supervisory failures, and investment losses.
With over 42 FINRA and state-level regulatory disclosures, Voya Financial shows a clear pattern of non-compliance. Our firm can guide you through the FINRA complaint and arbitration process and help you recover your losses.
Related Read: Can You Sue Your Brokerage Firm?
Investment Losses? We Can Help
Discuss your legal options with an attorney at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A.
or, give us a ring at (800) 732-2889.
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By Voya Financial Today!
The investment loss attorneys at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., have helped countless investors over the last 45 years recover the losses from their investment accounts that were caused by broker negligence or misconduct. The firm has extensive experience with Voya Financial cases, and Attorney Pearce is committed to seeing that those responsible for the losses you have suffered are held fully accountable.
Give us a call at 800-732-2889. Let’s discuss your case and see what we can do to help you get the compensation you need and deserve.
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