Articles Tagged with Sagepoint Financial

Barred SagePoint Financial Broker Accused of Selling Away

Grant Christopher Birkley, an ex-SagePoint Financial stockbroker, is named in two pending customer disputes. He is accused of selling investment products that were not approved by his firm. 

SagePoint Financial fired him last August after he admitted to making referrals to an external manager without the broker-dealer’s approval. In June, FINRA barred Birkley indefinitely after he declined to provide documents and information related to the self-regulatory authority’s probe into his termination by SagePoint. 

Former Texas Stockbroker Founded Nest Financial in Austin

Our GPB private placement lawyers are investigating investment losses suffered by former customers of ex-SagePoint Financial registered representative, Daniel G. Dillard. Although he is no longer a registered broker, Dillard remains a registered investment advisor and the founder of Nest Financial in Austin.

He is currently named in two pending customer disputes, including one Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration case over private placements in which the claimants are seeking $1.5M in damages.

FINRA Suspends Nebraska Stockbroker Who Marketed An Alleged $300M Ponzi Scam to Customers 

Troy Robert Baily, a former SagePoint Financial broker, has been suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for six months. Baily, who is also a previously registered investment advisor, is based in Nebraska. 

The suspension comes in the wake of allegations that Baily took part in unapproved and undisclosed private transactions and persuaded customers to invest in Future Income Payments (FIP), which federal prosecutors now say was a $300M Ponzi scam.

FINRA Says SagePoint Financial Brokers Unsuitably Recommended Early UIT Rollovers 

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is ordering SagePoint Financial to pay over $1.6M in fines and restitution after it executed over $895 million in unit investment trust (UIT) transactions that resulted in more than $17.2 million in sales charges. 

Of these UIT transactions, over $203.7 million of the proceeds were from sales that occurred over 100 days before a UIT’s maturity date. FINRA found that these unsuitable early rollovers caused customers to pay over $1.3 million in sales charges that they wouldn’t have otherwise if only they’d held onto their UITs until they matured.

Sagepoint Financial Customers Suffer Losses from GPB Private Placements and Funds

If you are an investor who suffered losses after a Sagepoint Financial broker sold you GPB private placements, our securities fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) would like to talk to you. GPB Capital Holdings is accused of running a $1.8B Ponzi scam. Sagepoint Financial is one of more than 60 broker-dealers whose registered representatives sold these investments to their customers.

Sagepoint Financial is part of Advisor Group, a huge network of independent wealth management firms. In August, the broker-dealer and another Advisor Group firm, Royal Alliance, were prominently named by the lead plaintiffs in the first class action securities case against GPB Capital. The firms’ brokers had sold them their investments in the GPB Automotive Portfolio and the GPB Holdings II funds.

Two broker-dealers, Sagepoint Financial and Royal Alliance, recently made headlines after investors who bought GPB Capital Holdings private placements from them sued the alternative asset firm in a class action securities fraud case. GPB Capital Holdings, which invests in waste management and car dealerships, is accused of operating a $1.8B Ponzi scam.

The lead plaintiffs of the first class action securities lawsuit are Karen Loch of Georgia and Victor Wade of Texas. They invested in two GPB funds–$50K in GPB Holdings II for Wade that he purchased through Sagepoint Financial and $75K in GPB Automotive Portfolio for Lock through Royal Alliance Associates.

GPB Holdings II and GPB Automotive are GPB’s two largest funds, with both having  raised over $600M from over 6000 investors. The two funds are not listed or traded on any exchange. In May, InvestmentNews reported that their assets were over $10M and they had at least 750 shareholders, thus requiring them to be registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Still, GPB failed to register both funds by their April 30, 2018 deadline and no annual reports have been filed since. This failure has kept Lock, Wade, and thousands of other investors from receiving even the most basic information about both funds and their money.

The first class action securities case against GPB Capital Holdings has been filed. The alternative asset management firm, which invests in waste auto management companies and car dealerships, is accused of operating a $1.8B dollar Ponzi scam that caused thousands of investors to suffer major losses. Now, investors of two of its funds are demanding that GPB fulfill its duty to provide yearly audited statements. GPB has not issued these statements since 2017.

The lead plaintiffs in the case, Victor Wade of Texas and Karen Loch of Georgia, both bought into the GPB funds as limited partnerships. Wade invested $50K in GPB Holdings II through Sagepoint Financial. Loch invested $75K in GPB Automotive via Royal Alliance Associates. Both brokerage firms are Advisor Group, Inc. subsidiaries.

Loch and Wade are suing on behalf of investors of the GPB Holdings II fund and the GPB Automotive Portfolio Fund. They have named the two funds, GPB Capital Holdings, its CEO David Gentile, COO Roger Anscher, CFO William Jacoby, and a number of Doe parties as the defendants.

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