Variable Annuities

Securities Fraud News: Texas REIT’s Share Price Drops Following Ponzi Allegations, Morgan Stanley, Ex-Broker Are Found Jointly Liable in $1M Elder Fraud Case, and Brokerage Firm Resolves Variable Annuities Claims for $475K

Published on: December 12, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

United Development Funding IV Shares Fall After Allegations of Texas Ponzi Scheme
United Development Funding IV (“UDF IV”), a Texas-based real estate investment trust (“REIT”), saw its share price drop after Harvest Exchange published a post that said the REIT had been run like a Ponzi scheme for years. United Development was a nontraded REIT that became traded when it listed on Nasdaq last year under the symbol “UDF”.

In the report on the Harvest site, the anonymous author said that the UDF umbrella had traits indicative of a Ponzi scam, such as, it uses new capital to pay distributions to current investors and UDF companies and gives substantial liquidity to earlier UDF companies to pay earlier investors. The article said that once the funding of retail capital to the most current UDF stops, the earlier UDF companies do not seem able to stand on their own. This purportedly indicates that the structure will likely fail and investors will be the ones sustaining losses.

After the report by the online professional network of investors, UDF IV saw its share price plunge from $17.53 to $10.10. It later dropped further to $8.55/share.

Over $1M Awarded in Senior Financial Fraud Case Against Morgan Stanley and a Former Financial Adviser
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. arbitration panel has awarded 92-year-old Genevieve Lenehan (“Mrs. Lenehan”) over $1M in her claim against Morgan Stanley (MS) and former Morgan Stanley advisor Justin Amaral (“Amaral”). Mrs. Lenehan accused Amaral of churning and reverse churning her account. Amaral also advised Mrs. Lenehan’s husband until his death five years ago.
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Voya Financial Advisors Restricts Variable Annuities Sales

Published on: August 3, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the wake of regulator scrutiny, Voya Financial Advisors is once again placing restrictions on its sale of variable annuities. The regulators are wondering whether the products are appropriate for investors who are saving for retirement. Variable annuities have been getting a lot attention from regulators from FINRA, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Labor Department, which oversees retirement benefit plans that provide tax benefits and are sponsored by employers.

InvestmentNews reports that according to internal documents, Voya said that it would no longer approve the sale of C share variable annuity contracts if the contract has add-ons that cost extra. It was just last month that the firm placed the same restriction on variable annuity contracts involving L shares.

Zoya brokers will now have to provide clients with an analysis, prepared by Morningstar Inc., of each annuity contract’s cost in dollars. They also will have to get a client’s signature before selling the new annuity.
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Royal Alliance Must Pay $1.4M To Retirees for Non-traded REIT, Variable Annuities Sales

Published on: July 21, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. panel says that AIG Advisor Group (AIG) subsidiary Royal Alliance Associates Inc. must pay $1.4 million to three retirees who claim that the brokerage firm was negligent when supervising the sales of variable annuities and nontraded real estate investment trusts.

The investors, who were former AT & T Inc. employees, claim that ex-broker Kathleen Tarr recommended that they take a lump-sum buyout from the communications company instead of a lifetime annuity. The money was then put into non-traded REIT company Inland Real Estate, as well as different variable annuities.

Tarr’s BrokerCheck record shows that she has been named in about forty customer disputes and complaints. She was let go from Royal Alliance in 2010.

The claimants, who are low-wealth, low-income seniors, believe that they should not have been encouraged to take a lump sum and place their funds into non-traded REITs and variable annuities involving an IRA. Even though they did not sustain out-of-pocket losses from the investment recommendations, the retirees purportedly lost out on earnings they would have made if only they had invested their money more reasonably or opted for the lifetime annuity. With the latter, an investor would have given over a lump sum figure in return for a guaranteed payout for the duration of his/her life.
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States Take Action to More Easily Identify Barred Brokers Who Are Still Selling Insurance

Published on: June 6, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has agreed to steps that will allow for the easier identification of brokers who have been barred from the securities industry yet continue to sell other products. The association is tasked with providing states regulatory guidance, as well as drafting model laws.

It is not uncommon for securities brokers to sell insurance, as well as other products and services. Even after someone has lost the license to sell bonds and stocks, he/she is still legally allowed to sell insurance with an insurance license. This type of license also lets individuals sell products that are like securities, such as fixed annuities and equity indexed annuities. Now, regulators are worried that such leniency will enable further bad behavior from brokers who have already been barred.

It was the Wall Street Journal that first reported on how many states can’t do a lot to track these brokers. Because of inconsistent coordination between regulators and insurance watchdogs, the latter may not even know that a broker has been barred from the securities industry. An insurance license lends credibility to ex-brokers even when they have a questionable broker record.

Ex-LPL Financial Adviser, James Bashaw from Texas, Lands at New Brokerage Firm

Published on: October 30, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

James “Jeb” Bashaw, the former star financial adviser at LPL Financial (LPLA) from Texas is now registered with International Assets Advisory, a small brokerage firm. LPL Financial fired Bashaw last month over allegations involving selling away. Then, for a while this month, he was with Wunderlich Securities Inc.

Selling away typically involves engaging in private securities transactions sans the required written disclosure or brokerage firm approval. It can also include borrowing from a client, as well as engaging in a transaction that is a potential conflict interest, again without the required disclosure in writing or firm approval.

Responding to the selling away allegations, Bashaw noted that he was “home supervised” and underwent more than a dozen perfect audits while affiliated with LPL. After his firing, Wunderlich took steps to hire Bashaw but there was a delay in transferring his license to the firm. In the end, the broker-dealer and Bashaw reportedly decided not to pursue a working relationship.

LPL Financial Fires Texas Branch Manager Over Selling Away Claims, Settles with Senior Investors in Massachusetts for $541,000 Over Faulty Variable Annuity Switches

Published on: October 15, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to his report on the central registration depository, LPL Financial (LPLA) branch manager James Bashaw was fired last month for allegedly engaging in selling away, which involves taking part in private securities transactions without written disclosure or approval from a brokerage firm, as well as borrowing from a client and taking part in a business transaction that created a possible conflict, again without obtaining the necessary firm approval or written disclosure.

Bashaw, also known as “Jeb” Bashaw, is considered one of the leading financial advisers in Texas. Barron’s magazine ranks him as number one in the state with assets totaling $3.8 billion.

According to Investment News, while the CRD, which is the central licensing and registration system for the securities industries and regulators, provided these details regarding Bashaw’s termination, LPL has not elaborated, except to report on his BrokerCheck profile that the broker did not follow industry regulations and firm policies. Bashaw is now registered with Wunderlich Securities Inc.

FINRA Bars Former Raymond James Advisor for Elder Financial Fraud, Charges SWS Over Variable Annuity Supervision

Published on: October 6, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred Jo Ellen Fischer, an Raymond James independent financial advisor, for purportedly stealing nearly $1 million from a 95-year-old client. At the time, Fisher worked for Peoples Bancorp.

According to the self-regulatory organization, from July to December 2013, the Raymond James advisor converted $924,750 from the elderly customer’s trust without permission. She did this by moving funds and securities into a brokerage account under her daughter’s name. Fisher then liquidated securities and used the money to cover her personal spending, including two Rolexes, motor vehicles, a 2-carat diamond ring, and other expenses.

FINRA says that Fisher claimed that the elderly client was her daughter’s godfather and he wanted her to have the money when she was older. The SRO, however, contends that the Raymond James advisor falsified documents regarding this matter. She has agreed to the bar without denying or admitting to the findings alleging elder financial fraud.

LPL Financial to Pay Illinois $2 Million Fine Related to Variable Annuity Exchanges

Published on: August 13, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In a settlement reached with the Illinois Securities Department, LPL Financial (LPLA) agreed to pay a $2 million fine and $820K in restitution for inadequate books and records maintenance involving 1035 exchanges. According to the firm’s BrokerCheck file, LPL Financial did not enforce “supervisory system and procedures” when certain persons documented variable annuity exchange activities.

Following the settlement, a company spokesperson said that LPL Financial is enhancing its procedures related to surrender charges resulting from variable annuity exchange transactions. This is to make sure these are accurately documented in records, books, and any disclosures that are issued to clients. The brokerage firm is also taking steps so that advisers are properly documenting why variable annuity recommendations were made.

State regulators have been taking a closer look at LPL as they investigate investment product sales. Last year, the broker-dealer settled with the Massachusetts for at least $2 million and a $500,000 fine over nontraded real estate investment trusts. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined the firm $7.5 million for 35 e-mail system failures.

FINRA Official Says Variable Annuity Sales Top Investor Complaint List

Published on: July 3, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority chief risk officer Carlo di Florio, variable annuities continue to among the products named the most in customer complaints. He spoke at the Insured Retirement Institute’s Government Legal & Regulatory conference in D.C. on Monday.

Di Florio, who is also the head of strategy at the self-regulatory agency, said that some variable annuities are taking on features similar to complex structured products. This includes caps that restrict how high returns can reach during market rallies and buffers that place a limit on how much annuities are allowed to fall when the market drops.

Annuities that have caps and buffers are different from the more conventional annuities in that the two make a product even more complex by varying market volatility exposure. FINRA wants to make sure that investors know what they are getting involved in when they purchase any kind of variable annuity.

Variable Annuities Scam Sought to Profit From Terminally Ill Patients’ Deaths, Says SEC

Published on: March 15, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against brokers Michael A. Horowitz and Moshe Marc Cohen, investment adviser BDL Manager LLC, and four others for their involvement in a variable annuities scam. The financial fraud purportedly aimed to make money from the deaths of terminally sick patients living under hospice care and in nursing homes.

Variable annuities are supposed to act as long-term investment vehicles to offer income upon retirement. One common feature is that a beneficiary of an annuity, usually a child or spouse, is paid a death benefit if the annuitant passes away. There is also usually a bonus credit that the issuer of the annuity adds to the value of the contract according to a specific percentage of purchase payments.

The SEC Enforcement Division claims that Horowitz set up a scam to exploit the benefits offered in annuities. Working with the help of others, he used the information of terminally ill patients in Southern California and Chicago, Illinois and sold variable annuity contracts, along with the bonus credit and benefit, to rich investors.