FINRA awarded a married couple $800,000 after an arbitration panel found Oppenheimer & Co. negligent in recommending these customers invest in energy stocks, including Breitburn Energy Partners, Sandridge Permian Trust, Atlas Resource Partners, and Vanguard National Resources.
As we previously wrote, Breitburn Energy Partners (BBEPQ), whose share price dropped by 99% from 2014 to 2017, spurring the Los Angeles-based Breitburn Energy Partners LP to initiate Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings, is just one oil-and-gas sector Master Limited Partnership (MLP) securities product that has crashed in recent years, leaving investors holding the bag and absorbing significant losses.
Although Breitburn, for instance, listed in its filing with the SEC that "oil and natural gas are costly and high-risk activities...you could lose part or all of your investment," many analysts classified Breitburn in 2013 as a "strong buy," with none other than Oppenheimer & Co. writing, of BBEPQ, "long-term growth outlook remains intact," while Morgan Stanley wrote of MLPs in general: "solid, even if not spectacular total returns."
In 2017, that long-term growth dropped to a price point of just a few pennies per share (from a $23 high in 2014), resulting in widespread losses.
In finding Oppenheimer & Co. negligent in recommending Breitburn and related energy sector stocks to the claimants, the arbitration panel awarded a total of $800,000 in damages and denied third-party broker Evan Fischer's request to expunge his CRD records relative to the case.
In 2016, customers of Evan Ira Fischer (CRD #1454305), who is presently associated with Ameriprise Financial Services, filed a complaint alleging overconcentration in unsuitable energy sector investments, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, negligent supervision, fraud, and breach of contract.
In 2017, Fischer received two more customer disputes alleging unsuitable trades, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, and misrepresentation.
If you have invested with Oppenheimer & Co. or with any broker or financial adviser who has unsuitably recommended or over-concentrated your investments in risky energy sector securities whose poor performance has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.