Lawsuit against Fisher Investments a possible indicator that more investment lawsuits and arbitration claims against financial advisers may be in the works

Earlier this month, our securities fraud law firm published a blog post about a $1.2 million arbitration claim filed against Fisher Investments by a couple accusing the investment adviser of breach of fiduciary duty. Fisher Investments head Ken Fisher called the allegations “nonsense.”

He also brushed off claims made in an investment adviser lawsuit, this one filed in Houston federal court by investor Maurine Ford. The plaintiff contends that Fisher Investments is responsible for substantial losses sustained by a living trust that the firm began managing for her in June 2008. Before then, Lighthouse Capital Management LLP of Houston managed the trust. That is, until Fisher Investments purchased the client assets.

According to Ford’s complaint, the asset allocation in the trust’s account when it was transferred to Fisher Investments was 27% cash, 41% equities, and 32% fixed income. She contends that Fisher Investments recommended that the plaintiff reallocate the portfolio so that 100% would be invested in equities.

The $1.2 million investment advisor arbitration claim, filed in Georgia by Michelle and Brent Murphy, accuses Fisher Investments of keeping nearly 100% of the senior couple's investments in equities despite the market collapse that was taking place.

Mr. Fisher maintains that both cases against his firm are going to hit concrete walls. He has called the lawyers handling both cases “incompetent” and said that the clients “will be sorry in the end” for paying for legal fees when they end up empty-handed.

In response to Fisher’s claims, Stockbroker Fraud Attorney William Shepherd says, “While it is true that attorneys not accustomed to handling investors’ claims are indeed not competent to handle such cases, Mr. Fisher may discover that all lawyers are not incompetent in this area of the law. Investors who hire a legal team that has handled hundreds – or even thousands - of claims by investors, such as our firm, very well may surprise Fisher. We look forward to providing him with that learning experience.” Mr. Shepherd is the founder of securities fraud law firm Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP.

Following the majority of past market collapses, investors were most likely to try recouping their investment losses from broker-dealers and stockbrokers. Industry experts, however, are anticipating that this time around, investors may also seek to get their money back by filing lawsuits and arbitration claims against liable financial advisers.