Advisor Group

Advisor Group Broker-Dealers Facing $19.4M in GPB Capital Holdings Investor Claims

Published on: March 11, 2022 | by Samuel B. Edwards

In Focus Reports submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February 2022, four brokerage firms from the Advisor Group network disclosed that they were respondents in 58 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration cases. These arbitration cases, from July 2019 through the end of 2021, were over GPB-related losses.

GPB Capital Holdings, LLC, which issued these private placements, is accused of operating an over $1.8B Ponzi scam that defrauded more than 17,000 thousand investors. GPB investors typically purchased these high-commission products in $50K to $100K tranches. They have since suffered substantial investment losses.

Distributions of GPB private placements were stopped in 2018. Ponzi fraud allegations, resulting investigations, and litigation followed. The GPB funds plunged in value. Meanwhile, dozens of brokerage firms marketed and sold these alternative investments to customers, earning many millions of dollars in commissions and fees.

Merger Folds KMS Financial, Investacorp, and Securities Services Under Securities America Banner

Published on: April 19, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Integration Instigated After Advisor Group’s Acquisition of Ladenburg Thalman

Securities America, which is a broker-dealer of the Advisor Group network, has completed integrating brokerage firms Investacorp, KMS Financial Securities, and Securities Services Network into its fold. All four were Ladenburg Thalman broker-dealers until Advisor Group acquired Ladenburg and its firms last year for $1.3B.

Triad Advisors, another former Ladenburg Thalman broker-dealer, will stay a standalone firm. The other Advisor Group broker-dealers include Woodbury Financial Services, FSC Securities, SagePoint Financial, Royal Alliance Associates, and FSC Securities Corporation.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates NAV REIT and Real Estate Interval Funds Sold By Advisor Group

Published on: April 21, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Advisor Group Suspends Real Estate Investment Product Sales

Another brokerage firm has temporarily stopped selling real estate products due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has causing valuation issues. Advisor Group’s decision to suspend the sales of real estate interval funds and NAV real estate investment trusts (NAV REITs) comes soon after another independent brokerage-dealer (IBD), LPL Financial, announced that it was suspending its sales of a number of nontraded REITs and publicly traded property interval funds.

The temporary cessations are counter to what IBDs did prior to the 2008 economic crisis when they sold a lot of real estate investments that were illiquid. These investments later saw their prices take a nosedive at great cost to investors.