SYNERGY INVESTMENT GROUP INVESTOR ALERT - WATCH OUT FOR CHURNING AND UNSUITABLE INVESTMENTS!

Synergy Investment Group is an independent broker-dealer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and reportedly has over 80 registered representatives across the United States operating in one or two person offices. Its branch offices are largely comprised of small producers earning commissions at higher pay out rates than the major full-service brokerage firms, a recipe for disaster when it comes to protecting investors from churning and unsuitable investments and unsuitable investment strategies!

Churning is a violation of Federal and state securities statutes, industry rules and regulations and a breach of fiduciary duty to investors under common law. Churning can occur if a Synergy Investment Group broker exercises control over the investment decisions in your account and purchases stocks or recommends that you purchase and sell stocks for his benefit, i.e., commissions not yours! These trades rarely, if ever, make the investor any money. In fact, the additional commissions raise the break-even point for the investor to the level where the stock must perform at an extremely high level in order for the investor to make any money.

In every broker-investor relationship, the broker must assess what the investor's goals are as well as his or her risk tolerance. This assessment is based on a number of key factors, including the investor's stated objectives, risk tolerance, financial condition and tax status. It is the broker's responsibility to only pursue investments suitable for that investor based on these factors. A stockbroker is obligated to only recommend suitable investments and investment strategies. If a Synergy Investment Group broker recommends unsuitable investments and unsuitable investment strategies, it can leave you vulnerable to unnecessary risk and losses.

Independent broker-dealers are notorious for their lax supervisory practices and procedures. The business model of these operations is to open many offices nationwide for steady growth of fixed monthly revenues without the costs attendant to a full-service branch office with on-site manager, compliance officer and operation personnel. The registered representatives of these independent broker-dealers generally operate as separately incorporated businesses. They are not employees of the broker-dealer and therefore not controlled in the same manner as full-service brokerage firm representatives. The registered representatives control their structure and costs to maximize profits and often leave the protection of investors' rights and interests as their lowest priority.

The typical supervisory organization of independent broker-dealer operations is to have other independent contractors operate Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs) to monitor the registered representatives from geographically remote offices and then report to the main franchisor's compliance office at national headquarters. The supervisors at the OSJs are not employees of the franchisor and often run their own brokerage, insurance and other businesses. They are not devoted full-time supervisors of the smaller branch offices. Consequently, OSJ managers cannot and do not supervise the day-to-day operations of the registered representatives of these independent broker-dealers.

There is no immediate review of new accounts opened, securities transactions, business records, cash or securities receipts and deliveries, correspondence and business activities unrelated to the securities brokerage operation at these independent brokerage firms. The lax supervision leaves investors who have transferred their accounts to the smaller independent broker-dealer vulnerable to excessive purchases and sales of securities and securities that have not been reviewed or authorized by anyone other than the sales representative earning a commission. Generally, no manager is onsite to detect the placement of inaccurate information about a client's investment objectives and financial condition to document the suitability of a particular investment recommendation. There is no daily review of sales literature and client correspondence to protect against misrepresentations and misleading statements being made to investors. In fact, there may be only one compliance audit visit per year at many of these offices. These independent brokerage business operations are worrisome to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which has documented more instances of sales abuse and consequently investor losses at these firms.

Have you suffered losses in your Synergy Investment Group brokerage account? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against Synergy Investment Group stockbrokers who engaged in churning, recommended unsuitable investments and unsuitable investment strategies that caused investors losses.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

JAIME MELISSA CASSINO SUSPENDED FOR EXECUTING UNAUTHORIZED TRADES IN A CLIENT'S ACCOUNT

Jaime Melissa Cassino, a former broker with Charlotte, North Carolina based Synergy Investment Group, LLC, submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which she consented to the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) findings that she effected 122 discretionary transactions in the account of a customer without the customer's prior written authorization and without her member firm's acceptance of the account as a discretionary account. Ms. Cassino, of Miller Place, New York, was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for one month, and her suspension was in effect from February 19, 2013, through March 18, 2013.
A discretionary account is an account that allows a broker to buy and sell securities without the client's consent. A discretionary account is sometimes referred to as a managed account. Sometimes certain guidelines are set by the client regarding trading in the account. For example, a client might only permit investments in blue chip stocks. The client must sign a discretionary account trading authorization form with the brokerage firm. The execution of any transaction without the client's permission or without a signed discretionary account trading authorization is in violation of FINRA's rules.
Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from broker misconduct. If broker-dealers do not establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages flowing from the misconduct. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages due to Ms. Cassino's discretionary activity can bring forth claims to recover losses against Synergy Investment Group, which should have prevented Ms. Cassino from committing the described illegal activity.
Have you suffered losses in your Synergy Investment Group, LLC account due to unauthorized trades or any other prohibited activity? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

SYNERGY INVESTMENT GROUP INVESTOR ALERT - LAX SUPERVISION OF INDEPENDENT BROKERS CAN CAUSE LOSSES

Synergy Investment Group is a small independent broker-dealer whose business model is akin to a franchise operation. Synergy Investment Group is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and reportedly has over 80 registered representatives across the state operating in one or two person offices. Its growth in recent years can largely be attributed to layoffs at the major wire houses due to the most recent financial market meltdown. Most of the Synergy Investment Group registered representatives' gross production of revenues is less than $300,000 per year. Its branch offices are largely comprised of small producers earning commissions at higher pay out rates than the major full-service brokerage firms, a recipe for disaster when it comes to protecting investors' rights.
Independent broker-dealers are notorious for their lax supervisory practices and procedures. The business model of these franchise type operations is to open many offices nationwide for steady growth of fixed monthly revenues without the costs attendant to a full-service branch office with on-site manager, compliance officer and operation personnel. The registered representatives of these independent broker-dealers generally operate as separately incorporated businesses. They are not employees of the broker-dealer and therefore not controlled in the same manner as full-service brokerage firm representatives. The registered representatives control their structure and costs to maximize profits and often leave the protection of investors' rights and interests as their lowest priority.
The typical supervisory organization of independent broker-dealer operations is to have other independent contractors operate Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs) to monitor the registered representatives from geographically remote offices and then report to the main franchisor's compliance office at national headquarters. The supervisors at the OSJs are not employees of the franchisor and often run their own brokerage, insurance and other businesses. They are not devoted full-time supervisors of the smaller branch offices. Consequently, OSJ managers cannot and do not supervise the day-to-day operations of the registered representatives of these Independent broker-dealers.
Generally, there is no immediate review of new accounts opened, securities transactions, business records, cash or securities receipts and deliveries, correspondence and business activities unrelated to the securities brokerage operation at these independent brokerage firms. The lax supervision leaves investors who have transferred their accounts to the smaller independent broker-dealer vulnerable to sales of securities that have not been reviewed or authorized by anyone other than the sales representative earning a commission. There may be no one onsite to detect forgeries of clients' signatures on documents, the placement of inaccurate information about a client's investment objectives and financial condition to document the suitability of a particular investment recommendation. Oftentimes there is no daily review of sales literature and client correspondence to protect against misrepresentations and misleading statements being made to investors. In fact, it is not unusual for there to be only one compliance audit visit per year at many of these offices. These Independent brokerage business operations are worrisome to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which has documented more instances of sales abuse and consequently investor losses at these firms.
Have you suffered losses in your Synergy Investment Group brokerage account? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is actively investigating and accepting clients with valid claims against Synergy Investment Group stockbrokers who engaged in stock brokerage misconduct and caused investors losses.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

THE SYNERGY INVESTMENT GROUP LACKS SUPERVISION

The Synergy Investment Group, LLC ("Synergy"), a securities broker-dealer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with 37 branch offices has been the subject of numerous disciplinary actions brought by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") F/K/A the National Association of Securities Dealers ("NASD"). The recent complaints have focused on Synergy's inability to manage its branch offices and their offer and sale of private placement investments without management's knowledge and/or adequate due diligence.
At the beginning of this year, FINRA censored and fined Synergy and two of its representatives, including its Director of Compliance, in connection with the offer and sale of securities issued by Medical Provider Funding Corporation VI, a subsidiary of Medical Capital Holdings, Inc. (Medcap). FINRA found that Synergy failed to conduct reasonable due diligence in connection with a Medcap offering and that the brokerage firm's written supervisory procedures (WSPs) were inadequate and failed to protect public investors. Further, FINRA found that the firm's Compliance Director did not even follow the existing WSP's in approving the offering for sale to customers. The failure of Synergy to follow FINRA and long-standing NASD rules allowed the selling broker to misrepresent and conceal important facts from investors.
Recently, FINRA charged Synergy and another one of its branch office's representatives with fraud and other violations of FINRA and NASD rules relating to the prior approval of any securities to be sold by the brokerage firm's representatives. The securities involved were issued by Surety Partners, LLC, The Broyhill All-Weather Fund, LP, and Broyhill Asset Management (F/K/A Broyhill DW Capital Advisors).
FINRA requires all of its members to conduct due diligence and approve all securities beforehand. When a brokerage firm's representatives skirt around the rules and offer securities that have not been approved, those individuals engage in a violation known as "selling away". This practice is the product of a brokerage firm's failure to enact and enforce supervisory procedures.
Apparently, supervision is a major problem at the Synergy brokerage firm, and the FINRA regulators are pursuing an investigation of all Synergy's branch offices. Unfortunately, FINRA is not in the business of recovering funds for investors lost as a result of a brokerage firm's failure to supervise its representatives.
Have you suffered losses resulting from an investment in any private placement offered and sold by a Synergy sales representative? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is actively investigating and accepting clients with valid claims against Synergy salespersons who fraudulently offered and sold the fund to investors.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.