We represent investors in suits concerning a wide variety of violations committed by stock brokers. Probably the most widely known violation is the act of excessive trading or “churning.” Churning of securities accounts occurs when a broker acting in his or her own interest, induces transactions in the customer’s accounts which are excessive in size and frequency in light of the character of the account. If you believe you are the victim of churning call 303-300-5022.
Such actions are considered to be a form of fraud. The trading is looked at as being excessive in light of the investors objectives. A certain level of trading may be fine for a speculative investor but would be excessive for a conservative investor. While the rule gives no standard, turnover in the account is commonly looked at to determine churning. Disciplinary actions in front of the SEC have determined that turnovers as low as between two and four are high enough that they could be presumed to be churning depending upon the customer’s objectives.
However, setting a fixed level of turnover as churning is problematic in an investing world comprised of more than stocks and bonds, and where differing investment vehicles can pay a broker widely disparate commissions. One answer to this is comparing the cost of the transactions against the equity in the account.
For example, two buys and sells of a high-commission investment product, such as an annuity, per year could result in a cost equal to 5% or greater of the portfolio’s worth. An entire portfolio of low-commission investment products could be turned over four times at a cost of only 2% of the portfolio’s worth. Management fees for unlimited trading is generally less than 1%.
Both examples would be excessive, but the first example shows how little trading can be done to be excessive. In the first example, the person must make at least 5% from his investments just to break even. So if a person needs a 3% return to support themselves, and need only take a small amount of risk to get that return, that person must now take a substantial increase risk commensurate with a person seeking an 8% return just to receive 3%, or else go more than a year without seeing a return.
If you believe that you have been the victim of such actions please contact us at 303-300-5022 for a free consultation. You can also reach us from our home page at www.jpedersonlaw.com.
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