Dallas Adviser Suspended, Another Ordered To Repay Commissions

The Texas Securities Communion (TSC) has sanctioned two Dallas-area investment adviser representatives for selling unsuitable investments to clients according to a news release. Mark A. Trewitt was suspended June 6 for 90 days for selling unsuitable investments to clients, including one couple who invested half of their liquid assets in an Oregon-based private fund that collapsed in 2016, TSC said in a news release.

Trewitt is an investment adviser for Delta Investment Management LLC of Plano. He told the unsuitable investments while working for VFG Advisors Inc. Trewitt's clients invested $173,306 in the fund, which was exactly half of their liquid assets, TSC said.

"Investors nationwide lost as much as $600 million in the fund, which was one of the investment vehicles managed by Aequitas Management of Portland, Oregon," TSC added. "Trewitt also recommended that two other clients, a husband and wife in their 70s who had stated a preference for moderate risk in their portfolio, invest $275,000 in high-risk, illiquid private placement investments, non-listed Real Estate Investment Trusts, and Business Development companies."

The commission also ordered Clair Crossland of Dallas to repay $88,933 to clients who purchased stream-of-income investments tied to the payouts from pensions. The payment is double the amount of commission Crossland earned from the sales.

"Crossland is president of LFA IRA LLC, a Dallas investment advisory firm," TSC said. "Crossland did not understand the complexities of stream-of-income investments and the risks they posed to his clients. At the time Crossland sold the investments to his clients, state and federal regulators had issued warnings about the risks of the transactions – including the fact that some transactions may be illegal under federal law – and sanctioned several companies selling investments based on pension-income streams"

The State Securities Board issued an Investor Alert about pension advance schemes in 2016.