The Swarthmore Group, a Philadelphia stock-and-bond investment company that once counted the state, city and SEPTA pension plans among its fee-paying clients, has filed for bankruptcy liquidation, five weeks after shutting its doors and leaving managers demanding millions they say they are owed, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Records submitted to federal bankruptcy court Aug. 4 in Philadelphia with Swarthmore’s chapter 7 petition show the firm’s revenues had plunged to $1 million in the first seven months of 2022, down from about $4 million in calendar years 2020 and 2021. In June, the firm, founded and run by James E. Nevels, gave employees and clients two weeks’ notice that it was closing its doors, sending back investors’ money, and leaving staff to seek work elsewhere. As of March 30, Swarthmore had managed $1.5 billion, including about $400 million in stocks and the rest in bonds. It charged fees ranging from 0.25% of the bonds it bought for clients to about 1% of the value of clients’ stocks, with discounts for larger customers.
