Thrivent Investment Management Inc (“Thrivent Investment Management”) (CRD#18387) has many different complaints filed by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and state regulatory organizations.
At the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, we have investigated Thrivent Investment Management and its regulatory and customer complaints, and we have also represented investors with claims of fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty against organizations such as Thrivent Investment Management.
Is Thrivent Investment Management, Inc. in Trouble?
Yes, Thrivent Investment Management is experiencing notable problems. The firm has been hit with multiple regulatory actions and fines in 2024, including a $325,000 FINRA fine in May 2024 for failing to establish and maintain a system of supervision reasonably designed to detect signature forgery and falsification Thrivent Investment Management | Kurta Law Investigates.
Additionally, the SEC censured the firm and fined it $25,000 in October 2024 for failure to comply with Regulation Best Interest Thrivent Investment Management | Kurta Law Investigates regarding mutual fund share recommendations.
The regulatory issues appear to be systemic rather than isolated incidents. Between 2017-2024, 15 brokers from the firm electronically signed at least 120 client names on more than 260 documents Thrivent Investment Management | Kurta Law Investigates without proper authorization, and these violations went undetected for years due to inadequate supervisory systems.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE COMPLAINTS AND REGULATORY PROBLEMS THRIVENT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HAS FACED OVER THE YEARS
Thrivent’s regulatory troubles span several key areas. From 2020 to 2022, Thrivent’s brokers were found to have recommended Class A mutual fund shares in state-sponsored 529 education savings plans without considering whether lower-cost Class C shares were more suitable Thrivent Investment Management: Complaints and Regulatory Issues – Investment & Securities Fraud Lawyer, resulting in $220,000 in restitution payments to 846 affected clients.
The firm has also faced sanctions for failing to apply breakpoint discounts and sales charge waivers to eligible customers, resulting in higher costs for investors. Previous regulatory actions include fines for failing to maintain proper books and records, inadequate supervision of private securities transactions, and failure to deliver mutual fund trade confirmations to customers.
These ongoing compliance failures suggest deeper structural issues with Thrivent’s supervisory systems and potential conflicts of interest in their business model, where advisors may be incentivized to recommend products that generate higher commissions rather than those best suited for clients’ needs.
Can I Sue Thrivent Investment Management?
Yes, you can sue Thrivent Investment Management if you have suffered financial losses caused by the firm or its employees’ misconduct. However, most clients of Thrivent Investment Management have signed agreements that waive the right to file a lawsuit in court and instead require disputes to be resolved through FINRA arbitration.
What is Thrivent Investment Management?
Thrivent Investment Management(CRD#18387) is a registered broker-dealer. It operates as a full-service independent broker-dealer, providing a range of financial products and services to individual investors and financial advisors.
As a registered broker-dealer, Thrivent Investment Management is subject to regulations and oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). It is required to comply with industry standards and regulations to ensure the protection of its clients’ interests.
A failure to comply with industry standards by either its brokers or the firm itself can result in disciplinary actions, fines, or other penalties imposed by regulatory authorities.
Examples of Regulatory Problems and Complaints for Thrivent Investment Management
Thrivent Investment Management’s rapid growth has not been without consequences. There have been approximately 6 state and self-regulatory body disclosure events; that is, final and formal proceedings initiated by a regulatory authority (e.g., a state or federal securities agency like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or self-regulatory body like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) for a violation(s) of investment-related rules or regulations.
In addition, there have been customer complaints about Thrivent Investment Management for misconduct by its securities sales and investment advisory representatives that are not reported by the firm on its Central Depository Record.
A Brief Overview of Some of the Complaints and Regulatory Problems Thrivent Investment Management Has Faced Over the Years
Thrivent Investment Management has been repeatedly censured, warned, and fined for its own misconduct and failure to supervise its army of financial advisors. * A few of the notable FINRA Sanctions for its Supervisory Failures are below:
FINRA Censures Thrivent Investment Management for Failure to Apply Breakpoint Discounts to Eligible Customer Accounts
Brief Overview: Without admitting or denying the findings, Thrivent Investment Management consented to the sanctions and to the entry of FINRA findings that it failed to place eligible customers into the most advantageous mutual fund share classes to ensure that they received the benefits of available breakpoint discounts. Specifically, FINRA stated that the firm failed to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system reasonably designed to ensure that Class A shares held by certain institutional account customers were timely converted to Class I shares. FINRA further stated that many mutual funds waive the up-front sales charges associated with Class A shares, Class I shares, Class S shares, and Class R shares for certain retirement plans, institutions, and/or charitable organizations. Some of the mutual funds available on the firm’s retail platform offered such waivers and disclosed those waivers in their prospectuses. Still, the firm failed to apply the waivers to mutual fund purchases made by eligible customers and instead sold Class A shares with a front-end sales charge or Class B or C shares with back-end sales charges and higher ongoing fees and expenses. As a result of the above-described allegations, the firm was censured.
FINRA Censures and Fines Thrivent Investment Management for Failure to Deliver Mutual Fund Trade Confirmations to Customers
Brief Overview: Without admitting or denying the findings, Thrivent Investment Management consented to the sanctions and to the entry of FINRA findings that the firm failed to deliver thousands of trade confirmations of certain categories of mutual fund transactions to customers due to coding established through an outside vendor to generate and send customer’s confirmations. FINRA stated the firm internally investigated and discovered the causes of the delivery of confirmation failures and reported these failures to FINRA. FINRA further stated an independent consultant retained by the firm determined that the coding errors in the computerized system affected certain categories of the firm’s mutual fund transactions during the approximate nine-year time period, and that the firm failed to deliver customer confirmations for 454,426 transactions, with an aggregate value of $3,324,753,206 in 207,468 mutual fund positions held by 131,194 customers. As a result of the findings, the firm was censured and fined $375,000.
NASD Fines Thrivent Investment Management for Failure to Supervise Private Securities Transactions by Employee
Brief Overview: The NASD initiated an investigation into Thrivent Investment Management that led to an acceptance, waiver, and consent with the regulator following allegations that the firm failed to establish, maintain, and enforce written supervisory procedures designed to prevent or detect a registered representative’s participation in a private securities transaction. According to the NASD, the employee purchased or procured stock for his or her own personal benefit. As a result of the above-described findings, Thrivent Investment Management paid a fine.
State of Missouri Securities Division Fines Thrivent Investment Management for Failure to Disclose Customer Complaint Against Agent
Brief Overview: The State of Missouri Securities Division initiated an investigation into Thrivent Investment Management that revealed that a registration application for one of its agents failed to disclose a prior customer complaint against the agent and did not file a correcting amendment of the agent’s Form U4 within the required thirty-day period. The firm neither admitted nor denied the allegations made or the findings of fact or conclusions of law but entered into a consent order. As a result, the firm was fined.
State of Illinois Securities Department Fines Thrivent Wealth Management for Failure to Maintain Books and Records
Brief Overview: The State of Illinois Securities Department initiated an investigation into Thrivent Investment Management that revealed the firm failed to maintain appropriate books-and-records in violation of the Illinois Securities Act. According to the Department, the firm’s violation related to certain instances in which firm representatives and supervisors failed to make appropriate documentation regarding the suitability of certain variable annuity replacement transactions. The firm neither admitted nor denied the findings of fact or conclusions of law but acknowledged that the consent order could be entered. As a result, the firm was fined $400,000.
Why Does Thrivent Investment Management Have So Many Regulatory Problems And Customer Complaints?
Independent broker-dealers are notorious for their lax supervisory practices and procedures. The business model of many 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 an on-site manager, compliance officer, and operational 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 on-site to detect forgeries of clients’ signatures on documents, the placement of inaccurate information about a client’s investment objectives and financial condition, or 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 than the traditional brokerage firms with branch offices with on-site managers and compliance personnel.
How to File an Official Complaint Against Thrivent Investment Management or one of its Brokers, with FINRA
File an official complaint against Thrivent Investment Management or its brokers with FINRA by working with experienced investment fraud attorneys. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce has investigated Thrivent’s repeated regulatory violations, including FINRA fines, SEC censures, and client complaints for forgery, negligence, and failure to act in clients’ best interests. Investors harmed by these violations may be entitled to compensation through FINRA arbitration. Our firm helps clients nationwide recover losses caused by broker misconduct.
These cases can be extremely complex, and so having the support of a reputable attorney who is experienced in recovering investment losses for investors is key to your success. Many customers make the mistake of contacting Thrivent Investment Management without representation with an attorney about their complaints and have their complaints denied.
Related Read: Can You Sue Your Brokerage Firm?
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By Thrivent Investment Management Today!
The investment loss attorneys at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., have helped countless investors over the last 45 years recover the losses from their investment accounts that were caused by broker negligence or misconduct. The firm has extensive experience with Thrivent Investment Management cases, and Attorney Pearce is committed to seeing that those responsible for the losses you have suffered are held fully accountable.
If you’re dealing with an unethical brokerage, contact the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce. We fight for clients nationwide as well as in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Arizona.
Give us a call at 800-732-2889. Let’s discuss your case and see what we can do to help you get the compensation you need and deserve.