Alternative Investment Loss Attorneys

Brokerage Firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Has To Pay More Than $140M To Clients

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Alternative Investment Loss Attorneys (investorlawyers.com) are continuing to investigate claims of losses involving former customers of ex-Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. stockbroker Chuck A. Roberts. Already, the brokerage firm has to pay more than $140,000,000 in settlements and awards to its clients to whom it sold structured notes.

Most recently, this included over $2M in settlements for customer disputes alleging negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and more. There was also the $10.5M structured note settlement Stifel agreed to pay, as well as the $133M Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) award that arbitrators ordered the broker-dealer to pay to a family that accused the firm of overconcentration, supervisory failures, and Regulation Best Interest violations.

There are other settlements and awards in the six- and seven-figures that are listed in Chuck Robert’s BrokerCheck CRD, which notes 36 customer disputes. But many of those claims are still pending for a collective many millions of dollars. Roberts was barred by FINRA in July.

There is a very good chance that Stifel, where Roberts was a registered representative for 9 years, is a Respondent in all of these investment loss recovery claims. Roberts worked in the brokerage industry for 35 years.

Why Are So Many Investors Who Worked With Chuck Roberts Suing Stifel?

Structured notes are high-risk, complex, potentially volatile debt investments that come with a derivative component tied to the performance of an underlying asset. Roberts promoted these products to many of his customers, including those for whom they were unsuitable and not in their best interests.

Roberts allegedly misrepresented to clients that the structured notes he sold were less risky than stocks, “almost like a substitution for bonds… at 15%,” had downside protection, and would preserve capital while generating significant returns.

Instead, a lot of these structured products were autocallable notes that lacked much, if any, downside protection against any substantial drop in the price of the underlying asset.

It didn’t help that Roberts purportedly employed the unsuitable strategy of overconcentrating his clients’ accounts with structured notes that were involved in the same risky, linked securities. This only magnified the risk of loss in their portfolios.

The former Stifel broker is accused of recommending the unsuitable trading of volatile and speculative stocks, some of which appear to have been unauthorized transactions. He also allegedly recommended that certain clients enroll in the Stifel Solutions Program.

This set them up in a non-discretionary managed account, which paid him a fee for his advisory services. Roberts was supposed to secure each client’s consent before every trade, but there were purported trades made without authorization.

Representing Investors Against Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Over Alternative Investment Losses

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Alternative Investment Loss Attorneys are representing many investors against Stifel over losses involving different kinds of risky investments. We are extremely knowledgeable about allegations of broker negligence and misconduct involving this broker-dealer and a number of its registered representatives.

Our Alternative Investment Loss Attorneys have been fighting for investors for 35 years. We have successfully helped the majority of our clients to secure full or partial financial recovery in even the most complex investment fraud recovery claims against the largest firms on Wall Street. Call (800) 259-9010 or fill out this online contact form to schedule your free initial case consultation.