Securities Lawyers Blog
In February 2017, broker James Geake (Geake) was subject to a customer complaint alleging $347,083 in damages concerning equity indexed annuities. The customer alleges that he was sold equity indexed annuities that gave the broker a bonus for signing clients and that it was a bait and switch scheme. The complaint is currently pending.
Geake is currently associated with Madison Avenue Securities, LLC (Madison Avenue). The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating customer complaints concerning this broker. According BrokerCheck Geake has a total of four customer complaint disclosures including allegations of unsuitable investments in annuities and alternative investments among other claims.
Equity indexed and variable annuities are complex financial and insurance products. In fact, recently the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a publication entitled: Variable Annuities: What You Should Know encouraging investors to ask questions about the variable annuity before investing. Essentially, a variable annuity is a contract with an insurance company under which the insurer agrees to make periodic payments to you. The investor chooses the investments made in the annuity and value of your variable annuity will vary depending on the performance of the investment options chosen. The primary benefits of variable annuities are the death benefit and tax deferment of investment gains.