Elderly Parent Lost Money With Financial Advisor

If an elderly parent or family member lost money after relying on a financial advisor, broker, or investment professional, the transaction may deserve closer review.

Former Broker & Investment Adviser. Now Representing Investors.

Speak Directly With Attorney Glenn Mazer

Warning Signs Your Elderly Parent May Have Been Financially Harmed

Financial exploitation is not always obvious. Families often discover the problem only after reviewing account statements, insurance policies, or investment records. Warning signs can include:

  • Large or unexplained investment losses
  • Investments that seem far too risky for your parent’s age or needs
  • Money tied up in illiquid investments or long surrender periods
  • Sudden purchases of annuities, insurance products, REITs, or private investments
  • Frequent investment changes or unnecessary product replacements
  • Large withdrawals or transfers your parent cannot clearly explain
  • A financial advisor discouraging family involvement or questions
  • Your parent saying, “I trusted the advisor” but not understanding what was purchased

Why Older Investors Are Especially Vulnerable

Older investors may rely heavily on a financial advisor’s judgment, especially when they have worked with that advisor for years. Age, health changes, reduced financial experience, or dependence on others can make it harder to recognize an unsuitable recommendation or misleading explanation until substantial losses have already occurred.

When Your Parent’s Investment Losses Should Be Investigated

Investment losses do not automatically mean that a financial advisor did something wrong. But an investigation may be warranted when the investments did not fit your parent’s age, financial condition, need for income or liquidity, investment experience, or tolerance for risk—or when your parent relied on misleading statements about safety, guarantees, or expected returns.

  • Gather your brokerage statements, account records, and investment documents
  • Save emails, text messages, letters, and notes of conversations with your financial advisor
  • Write down what you were told about the investment, including its risks and expected returns
  • Identify when you first discovered the loss or problem
  • Do not assume that a market loss means you have no legal clai
  • Speak with an attorney experienced in investment-loss and securities cases before important deadlines expire

Mazer Law Firm can review your investment records and help determine whether broker misconduct or brokerage-firm supervision failures may have contributed to your losses.

Who May Be Responsible for Your Parent’s Losses?

Many investment-loss claims are brought through FINRA arbitration against the financial advisor, brokerage firm, or both. Depending on the facts, claims may involve unsuitable recommendations, misrepresentations, excessive trading, failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, or other misconduct. In some situations, claims may also be pursued in state or federal court.

The right path depends on how the investment was sold, who recommended it, the agreements governing the account, and the deadlines that apply. A careful review of the account records and communications is often the first step in determining whether a recoverable claim exists.

 

Who May Be Responsible for Your Parent’s Losses?

Depending on the facts, responsibility may extend beyond the individual financial advisor. The brokerage firm, investment advisory firm, insurance company, bank-affiliated program, or other financial institution may also be responsible if it failed to supervise the recommendation, ignored warning signs, or allowed unsuitable investments to be sold to an elderly customer.

  • The individual broker or financial advisor
  • The brokerage firm responsible for supervision
  • An investment advisory firm involved in the recommendation
  • An insurance company or agent involved in the sale
  • A bank-affiliated investment program
  • Other firms or entities that participated in or supervised the transaction

Talk With an Attorney About Your Parent’s Investment Losses

If you are concerned that an elderly parent or family member lost money because of a financial advisor’s recommendations, Mazer Law Firm can review what was sold, what your parent was told, and whether the advisor or financial institution may be responsible. Speak directly with Attorney Glenn Mazer about what happened.

No Fee Unless We Recover for You.