Securities Lawyers Blog
Advisor Scot Fairchild (Fairchild), currently employed by Lucia Securities, LLC (Lucia Securities) has been subject to at least two customer complaints during the course of his career. According to a BrokerCheck report one of the customer complaint concerns alternative investments such as direct participation products (DPPs) like business development companies (BDCs), non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, annuities, and private placements. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP have represented hundreds of investors who suffered losses caused by these types of high risk, low reward products.
In December 2019 a customer complained that Fairchild violated the securities laws by alleging that Fairchild engaged in sales practice violations related to breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentations and omissions, negligence and unsuitable investments in high risk, illiquid investments purchased between 2013 and 2014 and in violation of Nevada Securities Laws. The claim alleges $214,335 and is currently pending.
In January 2019 a customer complained that Fairchild violated the securities laws by alleging that Fairchild engaged in sales practice violations related to breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, breach of contract, and unsuitable investment recommendations related to Real Estate Investment Trusts purchased between on or around 2013 and 2014. The claim alleges $500,000 and settled for $175,000.
DDPs include products such as non-traded REITs, oil and gas offerings, equipment leasing products, and other alternative investments. These alternative investments virtually never profit investors and are almost always unsuitable for investors because of their high fee and cost structure. Brokers selling these products are paid additional commission in order to hype these inferior quality investments providing a perverse incentives to create an artificial market for the investments.
Several studies have confirmed that Non-traded REITs underperform publicly traded REITs with some showing that Non-Traded REITs cannot even beat safe benchmarks, like U.S. treasury bonds. Brokers selling these products must disclose to the investor that non-traded REITs provide lower investment returns than treasuries while being high risk and illiquid – but almost never do. Because investors are not compensated with additional return in exchange for higher risk and illiquidity, these kinds of alternative investment products are rarely, if ever, appropriate for investors. Continue Reading