The stockbroker misconduct attorneys at Meyer Wilson are now investigating allegations of unsuitable recommendations against broker Cory R. Brunell (CRD# 3260340).
While Cory Brunell is no longer registered with a brokerage firm, he still has six pending disputes filed against him with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). All six of these disputes arise out of Brunell’s most recent registration, which was with LPL Financial Inc. from July 2007 to July 2015.
The customers in these disputes claim Cory Brunell made unsuitable recommendations of leveraged exchange traded funds or inverse leveraged exchange traded funds. Funds like these use advanced investment tactics to earn returns based on the decline in value of a related benchmark. The customers are claiming damages ranging from $25,000 to $1.2 million.
All six disputes are currently pending arbitration with FINRA.
Cory Brunell was a registered broker from 1999 to 2015. Prior to his work at LPL Financial, Brunell’s registrations include The Investment Center Inc. from April to July 2007, Invest Financial Corp. from June 2005 to April 2007, Raymond James Financial Services Inc. from October 2004 to May 2005, New England Securities from January to June 2001, and Edward Jones from September 1999 to December 2000.
What are Unsuitable Recommendations?
Not all investments are suitable for all investors. For that reason, brokers have a legal duty to know your financial situation well enough to recommend investments that are suitable for you.
Good broker practice calls for familiarity with factors such as the purpose of your investment, your current and future financial state, and your tolerance for risk. Brokers refer to this duty as the “Know Your Customer” rule.
That duty remains constant even if your financial situation changes over time. Changes in your needs and goals could make an investment that was once suitable for you become unsuitable later on. Your broker should be mindful of such changes and should respond to them by adjusting his or her recommendations as needed to ensure your investments remain suitable.
Similarly, making suitable recommendations requires brokers to be familiar with the investments they recommend. Relying on outdated, insufficient, or incorrect investment information can result in recommendations that are poorly tailored to your needs. A broker’s investment recommendations should be consistent with all these factors. Failure to know and account for your unique situation can result in unsuitable recommendations—which in turn can lead to financial losses.
Unsuitable recommendations can give rise to a legal claim, putting liability for such losses on the broker’s shoulders. Investors who have lost money due to unsuitable recommendations may be able to recover by filing a claim against their broker. Almost all such claims are handled through FINRA arbitration, which is setup to handle claims filed against registered brokers working for registered firms.
The investment misconduct attorneys at Meyer Wilson are thoroughly experienced in the arbitration of unsuitable recommendations claims. We have helped hundreds of investors recover millions in losses attributable to investor misconduct. If you believe you may have incurred such losses, please give us a call or fill out our online form to request a free case evaluation.
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