Securities Lawyers Blog
The investment attorneys with Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating and representing investors who were inappropriately recommended oil and gas and commodities related investments. Investors may have potential legal remedies due to unsuitable recommendations by their broker to invest in this speculative and volatile area. One royalty trust that has suffered substantial declines is Pengrowth Energy Corporation (Stock Symbol: PGH). Over the past two years the trust has suffered a 89% loss in value.
Pengrowth Energy Corporation is an intermediate Canadian oil and natural gas producer with a 27 years operating history and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company claims to have exposure to large oil-in-place conventional plays, large low-risk resource plays, and early-stage development plays. The resources that the company claims access to include Cardium light oil, Lindbergh thermal bitumen, Swan Hills light oil, and Montney natural gas projects.
Our clients tell us similar stories that their advisors hyped energy investments as high yielding securities without significant discussion of risk. In a recent Associated Press article, common stories of how investors are pitched by their financial advisors on oil and gas private placements were reported on. Often times these products are pitched as ways to ride the boom in U.S. oil and gas production and receive steady streams of income.
Before recommending investments in oil and gas and commodities related investments, brokers and advisors must ensure that the investment is appropriate for the investor and conduct due diligence on the company in order to understand the risks and prospects of the company. Oil and gas and commodities related investments have been recommended by brokers under the assumption that commodities prices would continue to go up. However, brokers who sell oil and gas and commodities products are obligated to understand the risks of these investments and convey them to clients.
Our firm is investigating potential securities claims against brokerage firms over sales practices related to the recommendations of oil & gas and commodities products such as exchange traded notes (ETNs), structured notes, private placements, master limited partnerships (MLPs), leveraged ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stocks. Investors who have suffered losses may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.