Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (“Robert W. Baird”) (CRD#8158) has many different complaints filed by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), state regulatory organizations, and investors such as yourself. At the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, we have investigated Robert W. Baird, its regulatory and customer complaints, and have also represented investors with claims of fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty against this organization and its financial advisors.
If you believe you have a claim against Robert W. Baird, you should strongly consider hiring an investment fraud lawyer. You should not wait until it’s too late to file a claim. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., offers free consultations. 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.
Can I Sue Robert W. Baird?
If you’ve lost money caused by Robert W. Baird and/or its employees’ misconduct then the answer is, YES, you can sue Robert W. Baird, but the odds are you signed away your right to sue in court and agreed to resolve your dispute in a FINRA arbitration proceeding. Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce has over 40 years of personal experience in FINRA arbitration proceedings and knows very well how you can not only sue Robert W. Baird in FINRA arbitration proceedings but WIN that arbitration. The easiest way to know if you have a viable case against Robert W. Baird is to call Attorney Pearce at our office at 800-732-2889.
Investment Losses? We Can Help
Discuss your legal options with an attorney at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A.
or, give us a ring at (800) 732-2889.
What is Robert W. Baird?
Robert W. Baird (CRD#8158) 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, Robert W. Baird 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.
Robert W. Baird Has Many Different Regulatory Problems
Robert W. Baird’s rapid growth has not been without consequences. There have been approximately 40 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 many customer complaints filed against Robert W. Baird for misconduct by its securities sales and investment advisory representatives that are not reported by the firm on its Central Depository Record.
We have reported and written about these regulatory problems and customer complaints over many years. Robert W. Baird is a repeat offender: there are over 40 FINRA-reported proceedings citing the firm with one form of supervisory lapses or another.
A Brief Overview of Some of the Regulatory Problems Robert W. Baird Has Faced Over the Years*
Robert W. Baird has been repeatedly censured, warned, and fined multi-millions of dollars 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 and Fines Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. for Unreasonable Commission Charges
Brief Overview: Without admitting or denying the findings, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. consented to the sanctions and to the entry of FINRA findings that a published commission schedule was used to charged commissions on low-principal transactions that were not fair and reasonable. FINRA specifically stated that for all equity transactions, the firm imposed a minimum commission of $100 in addition to a handling fee. Because of the minimum commission, the firm charged a total of at least $266,481 in unfair commissions of transactions on behalf of customers. FINRA further stated that the firm’s supervisory system was unreasonable because in establishing its commission schedule and in setting commissions on transactions, the firm did not appropriately consider the factors set forth in FINRA Rules. Specifically, the firm’s supervisory system did not flag for review transactions when the firm charged the minimum $100 commission. As a result, the firm was censured, fined $150,000, and ordered to pay $266,481 plus interest in restitution.
Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. Censured and Fined by FINRA for Research Analyst’s Material Conflict of Interest
Brief Overview: Without admitting or denying the findings, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. consented to the sanctions and to the entry of FINRA findings that it published seven research reports about an issuer without disclosing that the research analyst who authored the reports was engaged in employment discussions with the issuer. According to FINRA, that constituted an actual, material conflict of interest. FINRA stated that the research analyst’s candidacy for employment at the issuer was legitimate, and the issuer and the research analyst had expressed mutual interest and taken concrete steps in furtherance of their employment discussions. During such employment discussions, the research analyst wrote and the firm published seven research reports on the issuer without disclosing that the research analyst was engaged in the employment discussions with the company. The firm’s failure to disclose the conflict of interest arising from the research analyst’s employment discussions with the issuer in the research reports written by him and published by the firm made those reports misleading. As a result, the firm was censured and fined $150,000.
SEC Censures Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. for Improper Mutual Fund Sales Practice
Brief Overview: The Securities and Exchange Commission initiated cease-and-desist proceedings against Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. wherein it found breaches of fiduciary duty and inadequate disclosures by the firm in connection with its mutual fund share class selection practices and the fees it received. At times during the relevant period, the firm purchased, recommended, or held for advisory clients’ mutual fund share classes that charged 12b-1 fees instead of lower-cost share classes of the same funds for which the clients were eligible, and the firm received 12b-1 fees in connection with these investments. The firm failed to disclose in its Form ADV or otherwise the conflicts of interest related to its receipt of 12b-1 fees, and/or its selection of mutual fund share classes that pay such fees. during the relevant period, respondent received 12b-1 fees for advising clients to invest in or hold such mutual fund share classes. Because of the above-described conduct, Robert Baird & Co. Inc. was censured and ordered to pay disgorgement of $3,946,606.10 plus interest.
SEC Fines Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. for Failure to Track and Disclose Trading Away Practices
Brief Overview: The Securities and Exchange Commission initiated cease-and-desist proceedings against Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. wherein it found the firm failed to adopt and implement adequate policies and procedures to track and disclose trading away practices by certain of the subadvisors participating in the firm’s wrap fee programs. According to FINRA, the firm offers its advisory clients the opportunity to invest in separately managed wrap fee programs; and through these programs, the firm’s advisory clients pay an annual fee in exchange for receiving access to select subadvisors and trading strategies, advice from the firm’s financial advisors, and trade execution services through the firm at no additional cost. However, if a subadvisor chooses not to direct the execution of equity trades through the firm and the executing broker charges a commission or fee, the firm’s advisory clients often are charged additional commissions or fees for those transactions. This is referred to as “trading away.”” The firm had not tracked or monitored which subadvisors were trading away from the firm, the amount of trading away, or the associated costs. The firm began gathering information from subadvisors who were trading away but failed to adopt or implement any policies and procedures designed to provide information to the firm’s clients and financial advisors about the amount of the additional costs of trading away. Without such information, the firm’s financial advisors could not consider the costs associated with trading away in conducting suitability analyses for advisory clients in wrap fee programs whose funds were managed by certain subadvisors. As a result, the firm was fined $250,000.
FINRA Censures and Fines Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. for Failure to Supervise Former Registered Representative Misuse of Customer Funds
Brief Overview: Without admitting or denying the findings, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. consented to the sanctions and to the entry of FINRA findings that the firm and a firm supervisor did not reasonably supervise a former registered representative’s misuse of customer funds. FINRA stated that the supervisor in charge did not reasonably follow-up on red flags associated with a trade correction request submitted by the registered representative, which should have alerted him to the registered representative’s misuse of customer funds. Specifically, the supervisor also did not follow certain of the firm’s written supervisory procedures relating to trade corrections that should have prevented the registered representative’s misuse of customer funds. FINRA also stated that in reviewing and approving the trade correction request, the supervisor did not follow some of the firm’s written supervisory procedures. The findings also included that the firm’s procedures for handling trade corrections were vague, ambiguous, and needed to be updated and firm supervisors did not understand how to interpret or apply the procedures. As a result of the above-described findings, the firm was censured and fined $200,000.
*Above are only some of the regulatory disciplinary actions filed against Robert W. Baird by FINRA. NASAA and other state securities regulator investigations and enforcement actions account for another 35 BrokerCheck disclosures.
Robert W. Baird Customer Complaints
There have been scores of customer complaints filed against Robert W. Baird stockbrokers and investment advisors over the years. We have launched many investigations of current and former Robert W. Baird advisors:
- Edward Taliaferro of Robert W. Baird Co. Inc.
- Lucas Harrison of Robert W. Baird & Co.
- Randal Master of Robert W. Baird
- Dwayne Powell of Robert W. Baird
- Brian Robinson of Robert W. Baird
- Peter Shanahan of Robert W. Baird Co.
- Lisa Press of Robert W. Baird Co.
- Thomas Heidenrich of Robert W. Baird & Co.
- Mark Kregor of Robert W. Baird Co.
- James Shrader of Robert W. Baird & Co.
- Keith Bryan formerly with Robert W. Baird Co.
- Christina Creech of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated
- Gary Cowan formerly of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated
- Jason Stubbings of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated
- William Munday formerly with Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated
If you have lost money investing with any of these Robert W. Baird advisors or others within this brokerage firm, it’s important that you reach out to an investment loss attorney quickly because the statutes of limitations can bar your claims. Call us at 800-732-2889.
Why Does Robert W. Baird Have So Many Regulatory Problems And Customer Complaints?
Independent broker-dealers are notorious for their lax supervisory practices and procedures. The business model of these 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 on-site manager, compliance officer and operation 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 onsite to detect forgeries of clients’ signatures on documents, the placement of inaccurate information about a client’s investment objectives and financial condition 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.
Did Robert W. Baird Advisor Misconduct Cause You Investment Losses?
When financial advisor misconduct has caused you to lose substantial value to your investment accounts, you have the right to seek reimbursement from the responsible parties. Robert W. Baird is responsible like any employer for its financial advisors acts and omissions. In addition, it has an independent duty to supervise its stockbrokers and investment advisors. 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 Robert W. Baird without representation with an attorney about their complaints and have their complaints denied.
Related Read: Can You Sue Your Brokerage Firm?
Investment Losses? We Can Help
Discuss your legal options with an attorney at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A.
or, give us a ring at (800) 732-2889.
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By Robert W. Baird Today!
The investment loss attorneys at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., have helped countless investors over the last 40 years recover the losses from their investment accounts that were caused by broker negligence or misconduct. The firm has extensive experience with Robert W. Baird cases, and Attorney Pearce is committed to seeing that those responsible for the losses you have suffered are held fully accountable.
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.
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