Despite learning about the error, Present did not tell the analyst to correct it and continued using the inflated performance figures, the SEC said.
Present's lawyer, Anthony Fuller, told jurors in his closing argument that his client honestly believed that the strategy AlphaSector was based on had actually been used with real client funds when he licensed it from another firm.
"He reasonably believed in what he was saying," Fuller said.
The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Present, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 14-cv-14692.
This article was provided by Reuters.