Investor Alleges Over $1 Million in Damages Over Chad Collins’s Misuse of Margin
Stone Beacon Capital advisor Chad Collins (CRD# 2597677) is involved in pending customer complaints alleging almost $4 million in damages. According to his Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) BrokerCheck report, last accessed on December 15, 2021, Mr. Collins is currently registered as a broker and investment adviser with Kestra Investment Services in Carlsbad, California.
Pending Complaints Involving Allege $3.975 Million in Total Damages
FINRA records describe three pending complaints filed against Chadwick Collins. All were filed in 2021. The complaints allege that he was “neglect and reckless” in his account management, that his “margin activity and “lack of fiduciary responsibility” caused losses, and that he made unsuitable investment recommendations. The pending complaints, whose allegations have not been proven, allege cumulative damages of $3,975,000.
For reference, margin activity refers to margin trading: a form of trading in which the customer borrows funds from their broker or investment adviser to buy a security, with that security itself used as collateral. Unauthorized margin trading, like all unauthorized trading, is forbidden by FINRA rules. Fiduciary responsibility, meanwhile, refers to an investment adviser’s duty to place their client’s interests above their own.
Earlier Complaints involving Chad Collins Settled for More Than $150,000
FINRA records also list two customer complaints involving Chadwick Collins that resolved with settlements paid to the claimants. The most recent complaint, filed in 2016, alleged that commissions were not disclosed before transactions were executed. The previous complaint, filed in 2013, alleged unsuitable recommendations and excessive trading. The complaints cumulatively settled for more than $150,000.
Merrill Lynch Fired Chadwick Collins Over Trading Allegations
In 2009 Merrill Lynch fired Chadwick Collins in connection to allegations he violated firm policies relating short-term mutual fund trading, as well as allegations of “having checks in his personal account returned for insufficient funds.” The disclosure on his BrokerCheck report notes that the alleged underlying conduct “did not involve customer accounts.”
Chadwick Collins Operates Stone Beacon Capital under Kestra
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Chadwick Collins’ 24 years of experience in the securities industry began in 1997, when he joined Merrill Lynch’s office in Carlsbad, California as a broker and an investment adviser. In 2009 he left the firm for Wells Fargo Clearing Services, where he remained until joining Kestra Investment Services in 2017. Records show that he has passed five securities industry examinations and has 12 state securities licenses.
For more information on Chadwick Collins’ registration history, including the pending and settled customer complaints involving him, visit his FINRA-maintained BrokerCheck report. (The above-referenced information was accessed on December 15, 2021.)
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