May 6, 2014

FINRA Focused on Broker-Dealers’ Increased Equity Indexed Annuity Sales

InvestmentNews reports broker-dealers are leading the pack in the world of equity indexed annuities, with sales reaching more than $38 billion in 2013, up over 13% from a little over $34 billion in 2012. Most of that growth is attributable to sales activity at large regional firms. At LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer with 13,600 affiliated reps and advisers, sales of fixed annuities and equity indexed annuities have surged in the first quarter of 2014. Sales of variable annuities at the firm, meanwhile, decreased approximately 2% in the first quarter, down to about $198 million.

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Dec 31, 2013

Edward Scro Permanently Barred by FINRA for Unsuitable Recommendations To Elderly Customers

Edward Francis Scro, a former Registered Representative of the now un-registered financial advisory company NelsonReid, Inc., was permanently barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for making unsuitable recommendations to his elderly customers. According to FINRA’s findings, Mr. Scro, of Naples, Florida, advised his elderly customers, who needed a stable monthly income, to invest in risky, illiquid investments, sold primarily by Private Placement Memoranda (PPMs).

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