Toronto Investment Adviser Litigation Lawyers
Wealth Management Litigation
Investment Business Dispute Lawyers for Litigation
Cryptocurrency Claims Lawyers

Gilbertson Davis LLP can serve your needs with lawyers who have experience in advising and acting for individual (retail) and institutional clients in disputes involving a wide variety of investment products.

Claims against Financial Advisors for Loss of Investment

Have you lost money as a result of advice given to you by your financial advisor?

Do you have a dispute with your stockbroker, investment advisor, investment fund manager, wealth manager, mutual fund dealer, wealth management advisor or financial planner about how your money is being invested or about the advice you were given?

Has your money been placed in an investment produce that you do not understand? Have you borrowed money to invest on the advice of your advisor? Has your advisor failed to consider your personal or financial circumstances?

Claims for Losses Resulting from Investment Advice

With the increasingly broad and complex array of investment products and opportunities available in the global marketplace, ranging from mutual funds to plain vanilla debt and equity investments in blue chip publicly traded companies to complex derivative transactions, hedge funds, exempt market products, and cryptocurrency, many Canadians seek out professional financial advice when deciding how to invest their money for retirement, education, and major purchases.

There are various types of investment professionals that offer financial advice and other services to Canadians, including: advisors and dealers registered under the Ontario Securities Act., and self-regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC); mutual fund dealers and their members that are self-regulated by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA); and other financial planners that are not licenced to sell securities or mutual funds and may not be registered at all.

The Advisor-Client Relationship

The advisor-client relationship is a spectrum. At one end, is a relationship of full trust and advice where the advisor effectively makes all discretionary decisions as to how to invest a client’s funds. At law, this may create a fiduciary relationship. At the other end, is a relationship where the advisor simply acts as an “order-taker” for the client and provides no investment advice at all.

The extent of an advisor’s duty to any client beyond executing instructions and acting honestly turns on the specific facts of each case. Advisors that give financial and investment advice beyond executing orders have a duty to know their client and assess a potential investment’s suitability in the context of a client’s:

· investment knowledge
· investment objectives
· risk tolerance
· income and net worth
· age

The standard of care that applies to an inexperience investor is considerably higher than the standard that exists between an advisor and a sophisticated investor.

Financial Advisor Negligence Claims

In addition to facing liability for breach of contract and fraud, financial advisors and other investment professionals may also face liability in negligence for breaching the “know your client” and “suitability” requirements. For example, an advisor may face liability for:

• failing to properly warn a client about the risks of an investment
• failing to promptly follow a client’s instructions to buy or sell an investment, especially in a volatile market
• advising a client to invest in a product that is unsuitable given their personal and financial circumstances
• failing to advise a client to restructure their portfolio given a change in their personal and financial circumstances (for example, job loss, divorce, etc.)
• advising a client to invest in a product that is illiquid
• advising a client to invest in a product that the advisor does not fully understand, including by failing to conduct adequate due diligence into a product
• inappropriately advising a client to borrow money to invest (leveraged investing)
• “churning” a client’s account by making a series of trades for the sole purpose of earning commissions for the advisor
• failing to consider the tax implications of engaging in a transaction;
• overly concentrating a client’s portfolio in a few investments, or otherwise failing to ensure proper portfolio diversity

Why Gilbertson Davis LLP?

In addition to the Firm’s robust business and commercial litigation practice, some of the lawyers at Gilbertson Davis LLP have experience in litigation involving investment advisors, mutual fund dealers, financial advisors, insurance advisors, investment bankers, publicly traded companies and other participants in the investment and securities industry.

Contact Us for an Initial Consultation

If you have an issue with the way your advisor has been managing your investments, or if you are an advisor facing claims, and / or being sued by a current or former client, please contact Gilbertson Davis LLP for an initial consultation.