Stock Broker and Investment Advisor Lawsuits
You and your spouse have worked hard all your life and wisely saved as much of your income you could afford to put away. Or your relatives have left you an inheritance. Like most of us, you and your spouse have lived your life simply to grow that which you’ve saved or inherited. You’ve saved this nest egg with the intention of living simply into the future. Likely, you’ve saved with the desire to pass your wealth on to you protect your spouse, likely with the desire to leave a nice inheritance to your children.
At some point, you may have met an investment advisor, possibly through a close or distant friend or relative, possibly at a “cake and coffee” meet and greet, possibly through an internet search. Possibly through a cold call from the investment advisor or stock broker or their employees. Possibly you don’t remember how you met the investment advisor or stock broker.
At some point, there was an initial conversation with the investment advisor or stock broker. You may originally have been impressed with what you heard from the potential investment advisor and/or his or her staff. You may have invested a small amount of your inheritance or some of your life savings. You may have invested a large amount or invested it all with the advisor.
Over time, you may have realized that some or all of your inheritance or your life savings has greatly dropped in value. Or maybe a friend, relative or a subsequent investor has questioned whether your prior investor advisor or stockbroker did not act in your best interests, either negligently or intentionally. There may have come a moment when your instincts told you that “I shouldn’t have lost all that I lost in my account!”
Trust your instincts.
Over our practice of greater than thirty years, we have repeatedly heard your story or one like it.
Unsuitability of investments that your savings were put into
- Did your investment advisor or stock broker transfer your investments into or out of an IRA, 401(k) or any other retirement account?
- Did the transfers made by your investment advisor or stock broker represent a large percentage of your entire investment portfolio?
- Were your personal and dependents’ investment needs taken into account by the investment advisor or stock broker?
- Were you put into high risk stocks or junk bonds?
- Were you put into private placement investments?
- Were your assets placed to buy gold, silver or any other precious metals?
- Were you told of expected or potential gains by your investment advisor or stock broker?
Borrowing money to buy new investments
- Were you placed into new investments with money borrowed from your personal bank accounts or those of your spouse?
- Were you placed into new investments with money borrowed against your stock and/or bond account or those of your spouse?
Overtrading (churning) of your investments by your investment advisor or stock broker
- Did your account get traded what seems like many times over?
- For example, if you had an account of $_______________________, how many times was that amount bought and sold within a 12 year period to buy or sell new investments many times within a year?
Investment advisor or stock broker fraud
- Investor representative/stockbroker fraud. We cannot define this, but as the saying goes, “We know it when we see it.”
At McMullen & Drury, P.A., we have successfully and compassionately represented investors that sustained losses in their investment accounts through arbitration, litigation and mediation since 1991.
