When Your Broker Makes Unsuitable Recommendations
Whether you are dealing with a stockbroker or someone who may only have an investment advisory license, the person guiding your investments has a standard of care. Your broker or advisor must make suitable recommendations for you given your situation and goals.
Richard Lewins founded LewinsLaw, P.C., so that he could offer investors the personal attention and dedication they need to hold brokers, advisors and brokerage firms accountable. As a securities litigation lawyer who previously worked as a broker, Mr. Lewins is passionate and profoundly knowledgeable about securities law.
FINRA’s Suitability Rule
Under FINRA’s (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) suitability rule, your broker or financial professional must understand your financial picture and have communication with you regarding your goals. Given this information, your advisor, broker or consultant must only recommend investments that are appropriate for you.
When your financial professional does not do this and you suffer a significant financial loss, you may have good cause for checking in with an attorney as to whether you should pursue a suitability case.
Questions To Ask Regarding The Actions Of Your Broker, advisor Or Consultant
Not every investment loss is the result of negligence. Sometimes unforeseeable events can result in a poor return. However, when the person you hire to advise or guide you is negligent and you suffer harm, this is cause to file a securities law claim. The questions to ask before filing a suitability claim are: did your advisor get information from you and consider your:
- Tax bracket
- Personal profile: age, family, experience in investing
- Personal comfort with or willingness to take risks
- Financial situation
- Requirements regarding accessibility to your financial assets
- Investment goals
If your advisor failed to ask you about your situation, experience and goals, this may represent negligence. Similarly, if your advisor understood your situation and goals and acted in a way that contradicted these, you may also have grounds to file a claim. In addition to suitability, your advisor must fully and accurately disclose the salient features of any purchase or sale they recommend or transact on your behalf.
Levels of sophistication and the legal standard to which investor advisors are held vary. In some instances, these advisors may also be bound to a fiduciary duty to their clients. In this case, you may pursue a breach of fiduciary duty claim. As there is no governmental oversight to personal investing, it is your responsibility to seek legal counsel.
Work With A Highly Rated Investor Rights Attorney
Richard Lewins was voted one of the best lawyers in Dallas and in Texas, by peer review committees of D Magazine and Texas Monthly. He is a member of an elite group of legal professionals devoted to ensuring investors have the means available to hold brokers, advisors and brokerage firms accountable. If you have suffered financial loss due to what seem to be broker errors, failure or fraud, set up a free consultation. Call 972-893-9245 or send Mr. Lewins an email via the website contact form.