Securities Lawyers Blog
Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (Ameriprise) financial advisor Jonathan Mirer (Mirer) has subject to seven customer complaints according to BrokerCheck records. Mirer has been employed with Ameriprise since July 2016. According to BrokerCheck the most recent customer complaints allege unsuitable investments and unauthorized trading among other claims.
The most recent complaint was filed in October 2016 and alleges unauthorized trading causing $62,000 in damages. The complaint was settled. In April 2016 another investor filed a complaint alleging damages as a result of unsuitable investments in energy stocks. The complaint was settled. The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP continue to investigate the customer complaints against Mirer.
Our firm is currently tracking a number of brokers that severely concentrated their clients in the oil and gas and commodities sectors which has historically possessed speculative risks due to the volatile nature of commodities prices. Before making such recommendations, financial advisors must ensure that the oil and gas and commodities related investments being recommended to their client is appropriate for the investor and conduct due diligence on the company before making the recommendation. Unfortunately, sometimes adivsors fail to conduct sufficient research or understand the risks and prospects of the company and the volatile nature of commodities.
One highly recommended product in recent years have been master limited partnerships (MLPs). Wall Street loves MLPs because they provide high yields to investors and require companies to pay Wall Street in order to continue to grow. In 2013 banks earned fees of $890.3 million from MLP issuance. Bloomberg quoted an analyst stating that “MLPs are Wall Street’s dream,” because “[t]hey’re fee machines.” Further, Wall Street showered MLPs with favorable research coverage to promote the boom. According to Bloomberg, in May 2014 “[a]nalysts predict that 93 of the 114 MLPs in existence will rise in value in the next year…” Astonishingly, “all but five MLPs are recommended by the majority of the analysts who cover them.” At that time professionals without conflicts called MLPs “the next great investment debacle” and warned that “many MLP shareholders…may not understand what they’ve gotten into.”
The number of complaints against Mirer are unusual compared to his peers. According to newsources, only about 7.3% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records among brokers employed from 2005 to 2015. Brokers must publicly disclose reportable events on their CRD customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, and even criminal matters. However, studies have found that there are fraud hotspots such as certain parts of California, New York or Florida, where the rates of disclosure can reach 18% or higher. Moreover, according to the New York Times, BrokerCheck may be becoming increasing inaccurate and understate broker misconduct as studies have shown that 96.9% of broker requests to clean their records of complaints are granted.
Mirer entered the securities industry in 1972. From July 2003 until August 2016 Mirer was associated with Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC. Since July 2016 Mirer has been associated with Ameriprise out of the firm’s Henderson, Nevada office location.
At Gana Weinstein LLP, our attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.