LPL Financial Broker Suspended for Unsuitable Recommendations to Elderly Widow

Scott Goldman, a stockbroker formerly registered with LPL Financial Corporation (LPL Financial), submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he was fined $10,000 and suspended for 20 days for allegedly making unsuitable recommendations of a leveraged, overconcentrated precious metals investment to an elderly widow. According to FINRA, Mr. Goldman used several different investment strategies (referred to as “Champion Models” by Mr. Goldman) in which he invested his customers’ accounts in mutual funds with a mutual fund family or through subaccounts of a variable annuity.  FINRA found that one of Mr. Goldman’s Champion models was the “Champion Precious Metals Model,” which was identified as the most risky due to the fact that it was concentrated in the volatile precious metals sector.  Further, the Champion Precious Metals Model used leveraged mutual funds, furthering the risk to investors.

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