
Beginning in 1995, NES marketed and sold the Investment Manager Program (AIM Program@) through its field force of approximately 1,800 investment advisory representatives. The program allowed investors to select a model asset allocation portfolio of investments. From the program=s inception, NES promised participating clients that it would regularly screen their accounts and identify whether their asset allocation percentages remained within certain predetermined ranges. If the percentages drifted from those ranges, NES promised to notify the clients and rebalance their portfolios upon request. However, from the program=s inception and continuing until late 2002, NES failed to provide such rebalancing services to a large number of its IM Program clients. Throughout the period at issue, NES was aware of the rebalancing failures and yet failed to take appropriate corrective action. Instead, the company continued to make representations promising rebalancing services that it was failing to provide.