Robert Edward Burns Allegedly Recommends Unsuitable Alternative Investments

The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of securities broker Robert Edward Burns. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Robert Edward Burns has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.

Robert Edward Burns is a Colorado based securities broker. He has worked in the securities industry for eighteen years. During his career, he has been registered with six different securities firms.

His Registrations

• American Century Investment Services (2000)


• Charles Schwab & Co. (2000-2002)


• H. Beck, Inc. (2002-2009)


• VSR Financial Services (2009-2016)


• Summit Brokerage Services (2016-2019)


• Cetera Advisor Networks (2019-Present)

The Allegations

• In August 2018, a customer alleged that Robert Edward Burns recommended unsuitable investments, handled their account negligently, and breached his fiduciary duty. This case was settled for $150,000 in damages.


• In August 2019, a customer alleged that Robert Edward Burns recommended and over-concentrated their account in unsuitable alternative investments. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $500,000 in damages.

What Does This Mean?

The term alternative investments is normally used to describe privately traded securities not sold on any public securities exchanges. Rather they are recommended directly to investors by their securities brokers--often due to a significant conflict of interest. Alternative investments are very poorly regulated and can easily lead to significant oversight taking place. Some less than scrupulous securities brokers often take advantage of this fact and will misrepresent these products as safe and consistently lucrative. However, nothing could actually be further from the truth. In reality, alternative investments are illiquid and speculative securities that unsuitable for most investors. Despite this, these less than scrupulous securities brokers continue to recommend them because of the incredibly high commissions they receive when doing so. Broker commissions for these alternative products can be as high as ten percent of the investor's principal investment. When an investor's principal investment is lowered that substantially it makes it almost impossible for them to see any returns on their investment under anything besides a booming market.

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 Robert Edward Burns, 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.