The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of securities broker Geoffrey Turner. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Geoffrey Turner has been the subject of a FINRA sanction.
Geoffrey Turner is a Georgia based securities broker. He has worked in the securities industry for nineteen years. During his career, he has been registered with seven different securities firms.
His Registrations
- Merrill Lynch (1999-2000)
- First Citizens Investor Services (2001-2003)
- NCF Financial Services (2003-2004)
- Allstate Financial Services (2004-2005)
- Suntrust Investment Services (2005-2006)
- Linsco/Private Ledger Corp. (2006)
- BB&T Investment Services (2006-Present)
The Allegations
Geoffrey Turner’s publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report shows that he was recently sanctioned by FINRA in September 2018. The findings in this matter state that he allegedly recommended certain L-share variable annuities to his customers without a reasonable basis to believe they were suitable. Due to these allegations he was fined $7,500 and suspended from acting as a securities broker in any fashion for thirty days.
L-Share Variable Annuities
Annuities are investment vehicles in which investors spend a predetermined amount of time paying scheduled premiums. They do this up until their retirement date at which point they begin receiving scheduled distributions that act as their income during their retirement. In a fixed annuity, the amount that an investor receives during their retirement equates to the amount they paid in premiums–plus interest. In a variable annuity, the premiums that an investor pays are invested into the actual equities market. The amount that an investor receives during retirement is dependent on how well the invested premiums performed in the market.
Annuities are incredibly illiquid securities due to the incredibly harsh penalties that the investor incurs should they have to withdraw from, or surrender, their annuity during its surrender period. Because of this, annuities should never be recommended to investors with higher liquidity needs. L-share variable annuities are marketed to investors as a way to receive the benefits an annuity provides, while having the ability to receive funds sooner due to the product’s shorter surrender period. However, annuities do not actually provide that many benefits that make it superior to other forms of saving for retirement.
Also, L-share variable annuities come with sales charges that are more excessive than regular variable annuities. This fact often goes omitted or misrepresented by less than scrupulous or incompetent securities brokers. Annuities are not designed to be products that investors can withdraw funds from early. Thus, having a type of annuity that makes withdrawing funds more accessible does not make any sense. An investor would be much better off saving for retirement in a different way.
Oakes & Fosher Can Help
Many investors are unaware of the legal recourse available to them after losing money due to securities broker fraud and/or negligence. The truth is that investors who have lost money in this fashion may actually be entitled to damages. Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with Geoffrey Turner, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. Oakes & Fosher handles cases on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.
