United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner (CRD# 20804) has faced numerous complaints filed by FINRA, state regulatory organizations, and investors. These regulatory actions and customer complaints reveal a pattern of supervisory failures and misconduct that may have resulted in significant losses for investors like you.
If you’ve suffered investment losses at United Planners, you have legal options. At the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, we have investigated United Planners’ regulatory history and represented investors who lost money due to fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty by this organization and its financial advisors.
Even if you signed an arbitration agreement with United Planners, you can still pursue claims through FINRA arbitration to recover your losses. The key is acting quickly because time limits apply to filing investment fraud claims.
The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., offers free consultations to evaluate your case. Let’s discuss what happened and determine the best path forward to seek the compensation you deserve.
Can I Sue United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner?
Yes, you can sue United Planners if you’ve lost money due to the firm’s or its employees’ misconduct, but you will most likely pursue your claim through FINRA arbitration rather than court. Most investors signed arbitration agreements when opening their accounts, which means disputes must be resolved through FINRA’s arbitration process instead of traditional lawsuits.
Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce has decades of experience in FINRA arbitration proceedings and knows exactly how to build and win cases against United Planners. The arbitration process provides a legitimate path to justice and financial recovery for investors who have been wronged.
The easiest way to know if you have a viable case is to contact our office for a free case evaluation.
How to Sue United Planners for Investment Losses
What Can I Do If I Lost Money at United Planners?
If you lost money at United Planners due to advisor misconduct or the firm’s supervisory failures, you can file a claim through FINRA arbitration to recover those losses. FINRA arbitration is a formal dispute resolution process where an independent panel of arbitrators hears evidence and makes a binding decision on your case.
The process works because United Planners is responsible for its financial advisors’ actions and has an independent duty to supervise them properly. The firm’s documented history of supervisory lapses—including failures to oversee consolidated reports, variable annuity sales, and independent advisor activities—demonstrates systemic problems that may have directly affected your investments.
These regulatory violations aren’t just paperwork issues. When a firm fails to supervise its advisors, unsuitable investments get recommended, fraud goes undetected, and investors lose money. FINRA’s repeated sanctions against United Planners for inadequate supervision provide strong evidence that the firm’s business model creates conditions where investor harm occurs.
Even with an arbitration agreement in your account documents, you retain the right to pursue claims. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce specializes in FINRA arbitration cases against independent broker-dealers like United Planners and understands how to connect the firm’s documented regulatory failures to individual investor losses.
Who Can Help Me Sue United Planners?
An experienced securities attorney who understands FINRA arbitration and the specific regulatory problems at United Planners can help you sue for investment losses. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce has handled numerous cases against independent broker-dealers and knows the common patterns of misconduct that occur at firms with United Planners’ business model.
Our firm investigates the specific circumstances of your losses, gathers evidence of misconduct or supervisory failures, and builds a comprehensive case for arbitration. We handle all aspects of the FINRA arbitration process from filing the initial claim through the hearing and award enforcement.
What is United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner?
United Planners (CRD# 20804) has been registered with the SEC and FINRA since 1987. The company is controlled by United Planners Group and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona with small branch offices located throughout the United States.
Its independent broker-dealer business model has grown through acquisition and organic development of primarily one and two person registered representative offices supervised remotely. Today there are over 160 United Planners branch offices with over 450 registered representatives in every state. It is now one of the 50 largest independent broker-dealer and investment advisory firms in the United States.
Why Does United Planners Have So Many Bad Reviews and Customer Complaints?
Independent broker-dealers like United Planners often struggle with customer complaints because their business model creates supervision problems. These firms operate like franchises—opening many small offices nationwide to generate steady revenue without investing in full-service branches that have on-site managers, compliance officers, and operations staff.
The financial advisors at independent broker-dealers typically run their own separate businesses and aren’t employees of the firm. This means United Planners doesn’t control them the same way traditional brokerage firms control their brokers. The advisors prioritize their own profits and often treat investor protection as a low priority.
United Planners uses other independent contractors who operate Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs) to monitor advisors from remote locations. These OSJ supervisors aren’t full-time employees and often run their own businesses on the side. They cannot and do not supervise the day-to-day activities of the advisors they’re supposed to oversee.
Without on-site supervision, there’s no immediate review of new accounts, securities transactions, business records, cash receipts, correspondence, or unrelated business activities. This lax supervision leaves investors vulnerable to unauthorized transactions, forged signatures, misrepresented account information, unsuitable investment recommendations, and misleading sales materials. Many offices receive only one compliance audit per year.
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has documented that independent broker-dealers like United Planners experience more instances of sales abuse and investor losses than traditional brokerage firms with on-site managers and compliance personnel.
United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner Has Many Different Regulatory Problems
United Planners’ rapid growth has not been without consequences. There have been approximately 9 Federal, 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 hundreds of customer complaints filed against United Planners 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. United Planners is a repeat offender: there are at least 4 FINRA reported disciplinary proceedings citing the firm with one form of supervisory lapses or another in the last decade.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE REGULATORY PROBLEMS UNITED PLANNERS’ FINANCIAL SERVICES OF AMERICA A LIMITED PARTNER HAS FACED OVER THE YEARS*
United Planners has been repeatedly censured, warned, and fined over one half million dollars for its own misconduct and failure to supervise its army of financial advisors.* A couple of the notable FINRA Sanctions for its Supervisory Failures are below:
FINRA Sanctions United Planners For Supervisory Lapses
FINRA conducted an investigation and discovered that United Planners failed to establish an adequate supervisory system to supervise the use of consolidated reports prepared by its representatives in violation of NASD Rule 3010 and FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010. As a result of its deficient supervision, United Planners sent consolidated reports containing inaccuracies to customers in violation of FINRA Rules 2210 and 2010 for which it was censured and fined $225,000.
FINRA Sanctions United Planners For Variable Annuity Sales Abuses
This matter concerns inadequate supervision of variable annuities sales by 131 “field OSJ supervisors.”. The field OSJ supervisors each reported to the “Home Office OSJ Supervisor,” [redacted] who worked at the United Planners headquarters office. FINRA found that United Planners failed to establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system and written supervisory procedures (“WSPs”) for reviewing the sales of variable annuities by these field OSJ supervisors.
Further, it found that United Planners permitted supervisors to approve their own variable annuity transactions with customers by allowing them to submit the transactional documentation to the insurance carriers without obtaining the prior approval of the United Planners’ principal. United Planner’s supervisory review of these variable annuity transactions was also inadequate in terms of suitability and timeliness of the review. Moreover, FINRA found that United Planners’ supervisory system failed to provide the broker-dealers designated principal with adequate systems and customer information to conduct an appropriate review of the variable annuity transactions. These reviews were conducted after the transactions had been completed, and the broker-dealer and field OSJ supervisor had already received commissions.
Accordingly, FINRA found that United Planners violated FINRA Rules 2330 and 2110 for which it was censured and fined $200,000.
*Above are only some of the regulatory disciplinary actions filed against United Planners by FINRA. There are at least 7 other SEC, FINRA, NASSA and/or state securities regulator investigations and enforcement actions disclosures reported on BrokerCheck as regulatory disciplinary proceeding disclosures.
Did United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner 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. United Planners 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 United Planners 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 United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner Today
The securities 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 United Planners cases, and Attorney Pearce is committed to seeing that those responsible for the losses you have suffered are held fully accountable.
Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce has over 45 years of personal experience in FINRA arbitration proceedings. Our firm has recovered more than $175 million for investors nationwide who were victims of securities fraud and broker misconduct.
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.
