SagePoint Financial Broker Cubby Bice Subject of Three Pending Customer Disputes
According to publicly available information via FINRA BrokerCheck, dually registered stockbroker and investment adviser Christopher Bice (a/k/a Cubby Bice, CRD No. 3222439) has been named or is otherwise involved in three pending customer disputes. Since 2005, Mr. Bice has been affiliated with Phoenix-headquartered independent broker-dealer SagePoint Financial, Inc. (SagePoint). Mr. Bice conducts business under his own shingle, through Bice Wealth Management, with offices in Mooresville, NC.
A long-time securities professional with more than two decades of industry experience, Mr. Bice first began working for UBS in 1999 and was subsequently affiliated with several other brokerage firms including A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. For the past 15 years, he has been affiliated with SagePoint. Since February 2018, Bice has been the subject of three pending customer disputes, which in aggregate seek damages in excess of $2 million.
The pending customer disputes concern allegations of “unsuitable investment recommendations” including allegations concerning a recommendation to invest in a private placement. In addition, the pending customer disputes concern allegations that SagePoint failed to adequately supervise their financial advisor, Mr. Bice, in connection with purported unsuitable investments.
Applicable FINRA rules mandate that brokerage firms like SagePoint, and by extension their affiliated financial advisors, must perform adequate due diligence on an investment before it is recommended to an investor. Further, pursuant to FINRA Rule 2111 (Suitability) a financial advisor must perform a customer-specific suitability analysis in connection with the sale of an investment product to ensure that the investment is appropriate for a specific customer based on certain criteria, including that customer’s age, net worth and income, liquidity needs, experience with investing and level of sophistication, in addition to the customer’s stated objectives and risk tolerance.
Moreover, under FINRA Rule 3110 (NASD Rule 3010), brokerage firms like SagePoint must “establish and maintain a system to supervise the activities of each associated person that is reasonably designed to achieve compliance” with applicable FINRA rules, in addition to state and federal securities laws. It is critical for broker-dealers to not only establish such a supervisory system, but further to properly maintain their supervision, by among other things, periodically meeting with individual financial advisors to discuss the products they are selling and their sales methods, as well as to examine correspondence with customers. In instances where a customer suffers losses due to an inappropriate or unsuitable investment (or investment program), then the brokerage firm may well be held liable for any failure to adequately supervise their employee.
The attorneys at Giarrusso Law Group LLC have significant experience in working closely with investors to resolve all manner of issues concerning investment losses, including losses suffered due to negligence or misconduct by a financial advisor. Investors may pursue a claim to recover monies through securities arbitration before FINRA, or in some instances, through litigation. Investors who wish to discuss a possible claim may contact us by telephone at (201) 771-1115 or by email at info@gialawgroup.com for a no-cost, confidential consultation.