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.
If you also suffered losses while working with ex-IFS Securities broker Steven Schisler and wonder whether negligence was a factor, please contact our California securities attorneys at (619) 550-4847. Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) represent investors in recouping their investment losses caused by broker misconduct.
Couple Invested $300K in Selling Away Transaction
Steven Schisler has consented to FINRA’s sanction and entry of findings without denying or admitting them. The self-regulatory organization (SRO) contends that he unsuitably recommended to the two elderly customers that they invest $300K in a promissory note to pay for a commercial property.
The ex-IFS Securities broker purportedly did this without his then brokerage firm’s approval, known as selling away. The issuer of the note paid him a $9,500 finder’s fee.
This was a huge chunk of the couple’s savings, which they were relying on to pay debts, and they didn’t have a lot of alternative income sources. Not only that, but this promissory note was only for accredited investors, which these two investors were not. They did not have the risk tolerance level or income threshold for this product.
In this video, SSEK Law Firm Senior Partner and securities lawyer Kirk Smith explains unsuitability:
Any reasonable due diligence performed by Steven Schisler would have confirmed that this was an unsuitable investment recommendation for these customers from the start. The ex-California broker would have discovered that one of the individuals issuing the note was already barred from the industry for investment fraud. Eventually, the issuer defaulted when the promissory note became due.
One of the two investors, now a widow, filed both a civil lawsuit and a FINRA arbitration claim for damages. Schisler settled. However, he included a prohibited condition that mandated she support his request of expungement of the cases from his record.
Steven Schisler Allegedly Engaged in Broker Misconduct With Another Retiree
According to FINRA, the former broker also engaged in misconduct with another retired investor. He persuaded the customer to lend him $50K in a promissory note secured by mortgage property that was about to default. The California financial advisor defaulted on the mortgage a few days later and the property foreclosed. It would be years before he repaid this investor.
According to BrokerCheck, Steven Schisler worked 25 years in the industry. A civil case brought in 2017 is still pending and alleges breach of fiduciary duty. The lawsuit was stayed for a move to FINRA arbitration.
Steven Schisler was an IFS Securities financial advisor from 2012 to 2019. Other broker-dealers where he used to be registered as a broker include:
- Sterne Agee Financial Services
- Synergy Investment Group
- Pension Planners Security
- Washington Square Securities
- Sunset Financial Services
- SunAmerica Securities
- Chubb Securities
Elder Financial Abuse by Brokers
Unfortunately, senior investors remain a vulnerable population when it comes to being taken advantage of by financial advisors and others. SSEK Law Firm has spent over thirty years representing elderly customers whose brokers made unsuitable recommendations and cost them their savings. Call SSEK Law Firm at (800) 259-9010 today or contact us online to explore your legal options for recovering investment losses.