FSC Securities Broker Brian Presley Subject to Multiple Alternative Investment Complaints

shutterstock_183554579-300x200The securities fraud lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against current FSC Securities Corporation (FSC Securities) broker Brian Presley (Presley). According to BrokerCheck records, Presley has spent 34 years in the securities industry and is currently located in Punta Gorda, Florida operating under the d/b/a The Presley Advisory.  Over his career, Presley has been the subject of at least eight customer complaints and two regulatory actions.

The most recent complaint was filed in August 2015 alleging that Presley breached his duties to his clients in illiquid investments including oil and gas and non-traded REIT’s.  The customer alleged $117,000 in damages.  The claim has been settled.  Many of Presley’s other customer complaints similarly allege damages resulting from the sale of alternative investment products.

Our firm often handles cases involving direct participation products (DPPs) and private placements including oil and gas partnerships, non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), and other alternative investments.

All of these investments come with high costs and historically have underperformed even safe benchmarks, like U.S. treasury bonds.  For example, products like oil and gas partnerships, REITs, and other alternative investments are only appropriate for a narrow band of investors under certain conditions due to the high costs, illiquidity, and huge redemption charges of the products, if they can be redeemed.  However, due to the high commissions brokers earn on these products they sell them to investors who cannot profit from them.  Further, investor often fail to understand that they have lost money until many years after agreeing to the investment.  In sum, for all of their costs and risks, investors in these programs are in no way additionally compensated for the loss of liquidity, risks, or cost.

Presley entered the securities industry in 1983.  Since February 2009 Presley has been a registered representative of FSC Securities out of the firm’s Punta Gorda, Florida branch office location.

The number of customer complaints against Presley is high relative to his peers.  According to InvestmentNews, only about 12% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records.  Brokers must publicly disclose certain types of reportable events on their CRD including but not limited to customer complaints.  In addition to disclosing client disputes brokers must divulge IRS tax liens, judgments, and criminal matters.  However, FINRA’s records are not always complete according to a Wall Street Journal story that checked with 26 state regulators and found that at least 38,400 brokers had regulatory or financial red flags such as a personal bankruptcy that showed up in state records but not on BrokerCheck.  More disturbing is the fact that 19,000 out of those 38,400 brokers had spotless BrokerCheck records.

The investment lawyers at Gana Weinstein LLP represent investors who have suffered investment losses due to allegations of wrongdoing. The majority of these 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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