The Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed the first penalties in a probe into conflicts of interest at investment consulting firms, which advise pension funds on how to allocate their assets.

Yanni Partners, a Pennsylvania-based consultancy that advises 128 clients with combined assets of $20bn (€15bn), has been given a penalty of $215,000 for not properly disclosing the work it did for fund managers between 2002 and 2005.