The latest quarterly SEC filing from Ladenburg Thalmann reveals that Triad Advisors, a brokerage firm under their umbrella, is facing six customer arbitration complaints with the Financial Industry Regulatory Advisory (FINRA) concerning the sale of private placements by GPB Capital.
GPB Capital has been accused of operating an alleged $1.8B Ponzi scam. Some investors are claiming massive losses following June 2018 SEC filings that reflect various GPB funds plunging in value. That came on the heels of the suspension of investor redemptions by GPB, and, then of course, there are the numerous pending regulatory and other investigations by state securities regulators, federal securities regulators, and the FBI.
Ladenburg Thalmann’s ownership structure includes five broker-dealers: Triad Advisors, Securities Service Network, Securities America, Investacorp, and KMS Financial Services. Recent news reports are that Advisor Group is purchasing Ladenburg Thalmann.
Why Are Triad Advisors Investors Upset With GPB Capital?
The investment fraud claims against Triad Advisors include allegations of negligence for allowing Triad representatives to promote and sell GPB Capital investments that were high risk, illiquid, private placement securities that were unsuitable for customers. The allegations also include claims of failure to properly supervise, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty. There is also a recently reported class action lawsuit against GPB Capital Holdings, its funds, and other parties, and that case appears to include Triad Advisors as well (along with numerous other broker-dealer firms that sold the GPB Capital private placements to customers).
Who Are The Advisor Group Companies?
Advisor Group (prior to any transaction with Ladenburg Thalmann) is one of the largest networks of independent wealth management firms in the United States. Advisor Group owns: FSC Securities Corporation (CRD 7461), Royal Alliance (23131), SagePoint Financial (CRD 133763) and Woodbury Financial (CRD 421). Collectively, there are 7,000 financial advisors associated with these companies.
FSC Securities Corporation: Was established in 1958 and became a FINRA member in 1977. FSC Securities is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, and it currently has assets under management of approximately $34.6 billion, with 1,375 representatives working out of 639 branch offices.
Royal Alliance Associates: Has been a FINRA member since 1969. Royal Alliance is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ and it currently has approximately $103.3 billion in assets under management with 3,178 financial advisor representatives operating from over 800 branch offices.
SagePoint Financial: Was established in 1970, and has been a FINRA member since May 2005. It is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ and has $45 billion in assets under management with 1,891 financial advisor representatives operating from approximately 890 branch offices.
Woodbury Financial Services: Has been a FINRA member firm since May 1968. Woodbury Financial is headquartered in Oakdale, MN. It has approximately $60 billion in assets under management with 1,537 financial advisor representatives operating out of 784 branch offices.
Other GPB Capital News, Lawsuits and Developments
In October 2019, the Chief Compliance Officer at GPB Capital was recently charged with obstruction and accused of stealing information from the SEC and sharing what he knew with other GPB executives.
Two former GPB executives have directly accused GPB Capital of running a Ponzi-like scheme. Both individuals involved (one in New York and one in Massachusetts) are involved in ongoing separate lawsuits.
The SEC, FINRA, State of Massachusetts, and the FBI are investigating GPB Capital. The ongoing investigation in Massachusetts includes an investigation into more than 60 broker-dealers, including Triad Advisors, FSC Securities, Royal Alliance, Sagepoint Financial, and Woodbury Financial that sold GPB investments to customers.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting its own criminal probe into GPB and earlier this year raided the company’s offices.
About Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A.
The sole purpose of this release is to investigate the manner in which GPB Capital funds were approved for sale by broker-dealers to investor clients, including new product reviews, due diligence, as well as the sales practice and supervision related to the recommendations in GPB Capital funds and the transactions related to same. If you have any knowledge or experience with these matters, please contact Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A. at 1-888-628-5590, or visit their law firm website.
Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A. is a law firm that specializes in representing investor clients in investment fraud matters and FINRA arbitration cases nationwide. They represent both individual and institutional investors seeking to aggressively pursue their claims and maximize their recovery of investment losses for victims of negligence or investment fraud. As former securities industry defense attorneys, they are an experienced group of lawyers that have moved from their side, to YOUR side and they are available to assist you today.
If you are an investor with any questions related to the handling of your investments in GPB Capital funds or any other similar illiquid private placement that you believe has lost value, Please telephone Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A. at 1-888-628-5590, for more information and ask about a no-cost consultation and portfolio review. No Recovery, No Fee.
