Broker John Kersey in Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC Firm Has Customer Complaint

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker John Kersey (Kersey), previously associated with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, has at least 14 disclosable events. These events include 13 customer complaints, one tax lien, alleging that Kersey recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on November 04, 2024.

The customer alleges that from March 2017 to July 2022, they wrote personal checks payable to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was deposited into a Northwestern Mutual account for the customer’s benefit. The customer also alleges that in 2011 and 2012 they wrote personal checks to a trust of which the customer was led to believe that the Representative was trustee of, and that the money paid to the trust was being invested on the customer’s behalf in a Northwestern Mutual account. The Firm has no record of these transactions.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $106,219.00 on October 04, 2024.

Customer alleges that in March 2023, the customer gave money to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was used to invest on the customer’s behalf in a bond fund. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $1,700,000.00 on August 15, 2024.

Customer alleges that in 2022 the Representative recommended a 1035 exchange of a Northwestern Mutual non-variable life insurance policy to an outside variable investment and that the recommendation was unsuitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on June 27, 2024.

Customer alleges that from September 2018 to May 2018, they wrote personal checks payable to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was deposited into an account for the customer’s benefit. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on June 26, 2024.

Customer alleges that from October 2018 to September 2019, they wrote personal checks payable to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was deposited into an investment account for the customer’s benefit. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $3,738,369.00 on June 21, 2024.

Customers allege that from December 2018 to May 2023 they wrote personal checks payable to the Representative and that the Representative misled them to believe that this money was used to invest on their behalf in a guaranteed investment account. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on June 14, 2024.

Customer alleges that from June 2018 to June 2022, they wrote personal checks payable to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was deposited into an advisory account for the customer’s benefit. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on November 10, 2023.

Respondent Kersey failed to respond to FINRA requests for information.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on October 05, 2023.

Customer alleges that in August 2018, they gave money to the Representative and that the Representative misled them to believe that this money was used to invest on their behalf in an education fund and another investment account. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on September 19, 2023.

Customer alleges that from 2012 to 2017, the Representative instructed the customer to write personal checks to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was deposited, on the customer’s behalf, into a trust account with the Firm. The Firm has no record of this account. The customer alleges the Representative wrongfully took her money.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on September 05, 2023.

Customers allege that in 2017 and 2018, they gave money to the Representative and that the representative misled them to believe that this money was used to invest on their behalf in a Certificate of Deposit. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on August 31, 2023.

Customers allege that in December 2017 they gave money to the Representative and that the Representative misled them to believe that this money was used to invest on their behalf in a fixed income account,  The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on August 25, 2023.

Customer alleges that in 2007 and 2008, they gave money to the Representative and that the Representative misled them to believe that this money was used to invest on their behalf in a fixed annuity. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint on May 22, 2023.

Customer alleges that in December 2017 the customer gave money to the Representative and that the Representative misled the customer to believe that this money was used to invest on the customer’s behalf in an investment account. The Firm has no record of this transaction.

Under the securities laws brokers are obligated to act in their clients’ best interests and provide only suitable recommendations for investments to the client. In addition, the SEC has promulgated ‘Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI)‘ which according to the SEC enhanced the broker-dealer standard of conduct beyond existing suitability obligations and requires broker-dealers to act in the best interest of a retail customer when making a recommendation of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities. Regulation Best Interest and the fiduciary standard for investment advisers are drawn from key fiduciary principles that include an obligation to act in the retail investor’s best interest and not to place their own interests ahead of the investor’s interest.

Brokers have an obligation to first obtain and evaluate sufficient information about a retail investor to form a reasonable basis to believe the account recommendations are in the retail investor’s best interest. Recommendations cannot be based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information. The cost of the recommendation and information about the investor are always included in material information. Types of costs that must be considered including account fees, commissions and transaction costs, tax considerations, as well as indirect costs.

In addition to obligation to understand the customer the broker must also investigate the product being sold. FINRA firms have an obligation to conduct a reasonable investigation of the issuer and the securities they recommend in offerings. A brokerage firm has a special relationship with a customer from the fact that in recommending the security, the broker represents to the customer that a reasonable investigation has been made. Thus, without conducting its own reasonable investigation, a brokerage firm cannot depend solely on the issuer for information about a company.

Another protective measure is to require broker discloses. Brokers are required to reveal important events, such as customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, terminations, and even criminal matters, publicly on their BrokerCheck reports. FINRA has recognized that recent studies offer evidence showing that brokers with a past history of regulatory and customer complaint issues are more likely to have such issues in the future. FINRA’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) published a study showing the predictability of disciplinary and disclosure events based on past similar events. The OCE study showed that past disclosure events, including regulatory actions, customer arbitrations and litigations of brokers, have significant power to predict future investor harm. The data shows that where a member firm on-boards brokers with a significant history of misconduct there is a high likelihood that the broker will continue to engage in similar behavior.

Kersey has been in the securities industry for more than 37 years. Kersey has been registered as a Broker with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC since 2001.

Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. At Gana Weinstein LLP, our attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.

 

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