Former Morgan Stanley broker Anthony Vincent Ferrone (CRD# 1192506) of Mahwah, New Jersey has been permanently barred from the securities industry. According to his publically-available BrokerCheck report, Ferrone was under regulatory investigation for potentially trading unsuitable Unit Investment Trusts (UITs) in customer accounts.
According to FINRA, Anthony Ferrone violated its rules when he appeared for on-the-record testimony during the course of the investigation but declined to respond in detail, and left before his testimony was completed.
Anthony Ferrone has faced other allegations of unsuitable investments in the past, according to his BrokerCheck report. He has been the subject of four different customer complaints. His brokerage history included time with UBS Financial Services Inc., Ryan Beck & Co., and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. He was with Morgan Stanley’s Ridgewood office from July 2011 until he was terminated in July 2016. Afterwards, he was hired by Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. for a short period of time. Ameriprise terminated Ferrone in April 2017.
Unit Investment Trusts Are Often Poor Option
It is not uncommon for brokers to push unit investment trusts on their clients. A unit investment trust is a pre-selected group of stocks or bonds that are fixed for a predetermined amount of time, which can range from 13 months to 30 years.
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One of the main problems with unit investment trusts is that they are not actively traded, which means if the market declines or other events affect the portfolio, no action can be taken to minimize the losses. This buy-and-hold strategy can be more of a gamble than being able to anticipate market nuances and adjust accordingly, which is possible with ordinary mutual funds.
Unit investment trusts can be expensive, both upon purchase and upon dissolution. Most of these are considered “short term strategy trusts” that dissolve after a year or two.
Even though unit investment trusts are not inherently bad, they can be complicated and subject to high fees and commissions. Investors might not be aware of all the costs involved with entering and leaving this investment option.
If you placed money in unit investment trusts through broker Anthony Vincent Ferrone or any other broker and you lost a substantial amount of money as a result, please contact the securities fraud attorneys at Meyer Wilson for a free consultation.
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