Investors Sue David Lerner Associates Over Spirit of America Energy Fund Losses
Our Skilled Oil and Gas Investment Fraud Lawyers Filed Claimants’ Six-Figure FINRA Lawsuit
Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) continue to investigate claims of losses involving David Lerner Associates’ Spirit of America Energy Fund (SOAEX). Recently, this has included filing a securities fraud lawsuit against the brokerage firm on behalf of two investors.
The claimants, both inexperienced investors, entrusted the broker-dealer with their inheritance money. Now, they are alleging that David Lerner broker Joseph Robert Aspelund engaged in unsuitable and too-risky investment recommendations, ongoing misrepresentations, and improper and fraudulent actions that led to the two of them suffering serious portfolio losses.
This is not the first time that our alternative investment fraud law firm has helped investors to sue David Lerner Associates over losses they sustained from one of the brokerage firm’s proprietary investments.
How Can Our Savvy Oil and Gas Investment Fraud Lawyers Help?
The Spirit of America funds is one of a number of in-house mutual funds marketed and sold by David Lerner Associates to its own customers. Because they are proprietary to the broker-dealer, this can create an inherent conflict of interest as brokerage firms generally earn more in fees when they push their own funds onto customers (especially when there are other more suitable options available to them).
With over 30 years of fighting for investors, our trusted oil and gas investor loss law firm is highly knowledgeable about these types of alternative investments, as well as why they are generally too risky, illiquid, and even volatile for unsophisticated investors to take on. We also have kept an eye on David Lerner Associates for years because of losses its customers have suffered after some of its brokers unsuitably recommended its own investment products to them.
Just in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the oil and gas markets, Spirit of America Energy Fund investors reportedly paid high fees of up to 5.75% of the offering price in sales fees plus 1% in deferred fees (if shares were redeemed within a year), and other expenses even as the Fund’s share price plunged drastically. This meant that David Lerner Associates continued to make money even as Spirit of America fund investors suffered huge losses.
If you contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, we can help you determine not only whether you have grounds for an investor loss claim against your brokerage firm, but also we will apprise you of your legal options. If you do decide to sue for damages, and you hire us, our seasoned oil and gas investment lawsuit attorneys can help you prepare your case and we will represent you against the opposing counsel.
We have represented retail investors, conservative investors, retirees, senior investors, accredited investors, wealthy investors, institutional investors, and many others in recovering the damages they are owed by their broker-dealers. More than 90% of our clients have received full or partial financial recovery.
You want to work with experienced Spirit of America Energy Fund loss attorneys who have the resources to fight for you. With us, you can count on personalized attention and quality securities law representation provided by our entire team of savvy attorneys, legal assistants, consultants, and others.
Contact Our Team of Oil and Gas Investment Fraud Lawyers:
Call (800) 259-9010 today to request your free, no-obligation case assessment.