Financial Firms

NI Advisors Sold GWG L Bond To Inexperienced Investor Who Suffered Losses

Published on: April 14, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Broker Peter Po Unsuitably Recommended High-Risk Product

A California investor has sustained losses in GWG Holdings’ (NASDAQ: GWGH) L Bonds. NI Advisors and broker Peter T. Po unsuitably recommended this precarious high-yield bond. This retail customer has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim requesting damages for his losses.

Our GWG L Bond investment attorneys represent this claimant in his FINRA arbitration case. We are also investigating other claims of losses by investors whose brokerage firms sold them this illiquid, risky product.

GWG Holdings Expected To File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Published on: April 12, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Dallas-Based Alternative Asset Firm Expected To Seek Bankruptcy Protection Very Soon

According to sources, GWG Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: GWGH) is preparing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The reports come after the Texas-based alternative asset firm notified the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an April 1, 2022 filing that it could not submit its 2021 yearly report and other financial statements. The firm has yet to retain an auditor since Grant Thornton stepped down from that role in December 2021.

Not having an auditor for this long can signify that a company is planning to seek bankruptcy protection. However, according to InvestmentNews, a GWG spokesperson refused to comment about such preparations when questioned.

Central American Couple Pursues 6-Figure Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Claim Against Ocean Financial Services

Published on: April 11, 2022 | by Kirk G. Smith

Global VIP and Global Advantage Select Were Unsuitable For Claimants

Two older investors from Venezuela have filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Ocean Financial Services over losses they sustained in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda). They are requesting about $385K, plus interests and costs, after the broker-dealer unsuitably recommended Northstar (Bermuda)’s Global Advantage Select and Global VIP.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP and Sonn Law Group, PA jointly represent this couple. A FINRA arbitration panel will hear their Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) investment claim in Boca Raton, Florida.

McNally Financial Services’ Recommendation of Lightstone Real Estate Income Trust Leads To Couple’s Losses

Published on: April 5, 2022 | by Samuel B. Edwards

Investors’ Worked With Ex-McNally Financial Broker Michael O’Meara

An older couple from Washington State has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against McNally Financial Services and its former broker Michael Charles O’Meara. The claimants seek up to six figures in damages and contend that they were unsuitably recommended and sold Lightstone Real Estate Income Trust.

This private, non-traded real estate investment trust (non-traded REIT) was too risky and complex for inexperienced investors like them. In September 2021, Lightstone Real Estate Income Trust changed its name to Lightstone Value Plus REIT IV, Inc.

Ocean Financial Services’ Recommendation of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Leads to Six-Figure Loss for Houston Investor

Published on: April 4, 2022 | by Kirk G. Smith

Latin American Investor Pursuing Up to $500K in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Damages

An older Latin American investor who was unsuitably recommended and sold a Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) product is requesting up to $500K in damages from Ocean Financial Services. The claimant, who initially just had accounts at Ocean Bank, was advised to invest her money beyond checking and bank accounts.

This would result in Ocean Financial Services overconcentrating a huge chunk of assets belonging to her and her mother in Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda), which is now defunct. Not only that, but the firm should have never recommended these products to this investor after 2015, which is when she moved to the United States.

Another Mexican Investor Pursues JP Morgan Securities Over Omnia/Old Mutual (Bermuda) Losses

Published on: April 1, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Senior Investor’s Funds Were 100% Concentrated in Risky Offshore Investment

Our Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) investment lawyers have filed yet another FINRA arbitration claim against J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC (JPMS) over losses suffered by a foreign national. The claimant is a nun and elderly investor from Mexico who entrusted her inheritance to the firm.

Instead, her J.P. Morgan Securities broker unsuitably recommended the now-defunct Omnia Ltd., previously called Old Mutual (Bermuda)/Beechwood.

Beechwood Bermuda Investor Seeks Up to $500K From Cetera and Broker Leo Li-Yuan Chien

Published on: March 28, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Beechwood Bermuda Investor Was Unsuitably Recommended Non-Traded REIT Healthcare Trust

Another Chinese investor has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Cetera Investment Services over losses suffered in Beechwood Bermuda (a Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda)-related product).

This investor also suffered investment losses in the non-traded real estate investment trust, Healthcare Trust Incorporated (HTIA). The claimant alleges negligence, unsuitability, poor supervision, and concentration, among other claims, and is seeking up to $500K in damages.

Ex-Kestra Broker Chadwick Collins’ Customers Seek Over $3.3M in Damages

Published on: March 23, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Stone Beacon Capital CEO Faces Unsuitability and Negligence Allegations

If you suffered investment losses while working with financial advisor Chadwick Charles Collins, please contact our California broker misconduct attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) today at (619) 550-4847.

Collins, who was a Kestra Investment Services stockbroker and Kestra Private Wealth investment advisor from January 2017 to February 2022, is now with Wedbush Securities. He is also the CEO of Stone Beacon Capital. According to Chadwick Collins’ BrokerCheck record, he is currently named in two pending customer disputes in which the claimants are collectively requesting more than $3.3M in damages.

Ex-IFS Securities Broker Steven Schisler Barred Following Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

Published on: March 21, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-IFS Securities Broker Recommended Promissory Note to Elderly Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred ex-IFS Securities registered representative Steven Douglas Schisler beginning January 31, 2022. Schisler, who works out of the Greater Sacramento, California area, has been a financial planner and investment advisor for over 20 years. He is also the principal of Synergy Wealth Management.

The industry bar comes in the wake of allegations that Schisler unsuitably recommended a promissory note to an older married couple.

Arizona Retirees Win $2.6M FINRA Arbitration Award Against First Allied Securities

Published on: March 18, 2022 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Cetera Broker-Dealer Unsuitably Recommended Non-Traded REITs to Retired Couple

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) and Menzer & Hill, PA, are pleased to announce that a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel has awarded our clients a $2.6M award against First Allied Securities. This includes $1.1M in compensatory damages, $818K in market-adjusted damages, more than $660K in legal fees, and $40K in other expenses.

This was a unanimous decision by the three-person panel of arbitrators, which awarded the retired couple the total amount they requested. The arbitration panel was just as troubled as our knowledgeable broker misconduct attorneys were about the actions of First Allied Securities and its financial advisors. First Allied is a Cetera Financial Group broker-dealer.