Representing Investors When Financial Professionals Breach Their Duties
In addition to contractual duties, financial professionals are typically held to either a suitability or fiduciary standard. If you use a financial advisor to manage your investments, you should ask them what standard applies to the investment advice they are providing you.
The suitability standard requires financial professionals to make recommendations that are suitable for an investor’s overall financial situation, investment goals and risk tolerance. A financial professional subject to this standard should be explaining the risks and rewards of their recommendations and advising you as to how these recommendations match your investment goals and risk tolerance. You should also be apprised of material information relating to their recommendations.
The fiduciary standard is a higher level of responsibility that, in addition to the suitability standard, requires financial professionals to put your interests ahead of their own. Fiduciaries often have discretion over your accounts and are required to disclose all potential and actual conflicts of interest.
When financial professionals and their firms breach these duties by engaging in various forms of misconduct, investors can suffer significant financial harm.
A Full-Service Securities Law Firm
Lewitas Hyman routinely represents investors nationwide who were harmed when financial professionals and their firms breached their fiduciary and other duties. Our team includes lawyers who have worked for large financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services, and regulatory bodies such as the SEC. We bring a unique level of knowledge when representing the rights of investors. We have a depth of experience resolving cases through various means, including arbitration and litigation when necessary.
If you were the victim of a breach of fiduciary or other duties owed to you by a financial professional or financial firm, contact Lewitas Hyman at (888) 655-6002 or through our online contact form for a no-cost evaluation of your matter.