United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner (CRD# 20804), has faced regulatory actions and investor complaints involving supervisory failures and other alleged securities-related misconduct.
If you suffered investment losses involving United Planners or one of its financial professionals, an experienced investment fraud lawyer can evaluate whether unsuitable recommendations, negligence, supervisory failures, misrepresentations, or other actionable misconduct contributed to your losses.
Investors unfamiliar with these types of cases can also review our guide explaining what investment fraud is and the common warning signs.
Can I Sue United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner?
Many disputes between investors and brokerage firms are resolved through FINRA arbitration. An experienced FINRA arbitration lawyer can investigate account records, investment recommendations, communications, supervisory evidence, and damages and determine whether a viable claim exists.
Investors who want a detailed explanation of the process can also read our guide to how FINRA arbitration works and how long it takes.
How to Sue United Planners for Investment Losses
What Can I Do If I Lost Money at United Planners?
Depending on the facts, United Planners investor claims may involve unsuitable investments, unauthorized trading, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, or other broker-dealer misconduct.
Because United Planners’ regulatory history includes supervisory issues involving variable annuities, investors with similar concerns can also review our resources concerning variable annuities and equity-indexed annuities.
When deficient brokerage-firm oversight contributes to investor losses, a potential failure to supervise claim may warrant investigation.
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’ Financial Services of America is a broker-dealer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and operates through financial professionals and branch offices across the United States.
Scottsdale is part of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Investors throughout the region can also review resources from a Phoenix investment fraud lawyer if they believe brokerage or financial-advisor misconduct caused investment losses.
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?
United Planners Investors in Arizona and Surrounding States
United Planners is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. represents investors throughout Arizona and the surrounding western states.
Investors with similar brokerage disputes can also seek assistance from a New Mexico investment fraud lawyer, Nevada investment fraud lawyer, Utah investment fraud lawyer, or Wyoming investment fraud lawyer.
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By United Planners’ Financial Services of America A Limited Partner Today
The investment fraud lawyers at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. represent investors nationwide in claims involving unsuitable investments, variable annuities, unauthorized trading, negligence, fiduciary breaches, supervisory failures, misrepresentations, and other securities 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.
