The Continuum Group Morgan Stanley – A Dubious Play?
If you’re considering working with the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley, you should read the following review. It will tell you about the problems Scott Siegel tries to hide from his current and prospective clients.
You see, the terms and conditions of this firm contain many problematic provisions. The following points will help you understand them better so you can make a well-informed decision.
About the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley
The Continuum Group Morgan Stanley is a financial advisory firm based in New York. Their office is located at 522 5th Ave 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036, US while their contact number is 212-296-6211.
The firm caters to executives and wealthy families and claims to help them articulate and executive-tailored strategies. Some of the services you can avail of here include retirement planning, wealth transfer, portfolio management, estate and tax planning strategies, cash management, wealth planning strategies, and lending solutions.
They claim to offer customized solutions that align with the complex financial needs of their clients. However, the disclosures of this firm suggest otherwise.
The managing director of the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley is Scott Siegel. Other notable people at this firm include Steven Rosbash, Jaynie Siegel, and Joseph Carmody.
While the firm shares all of its positives with its clients, it fails to mention the problematic provisions present in its disclosures. The following section of this review will shed some light on the same:
Reasons Why You Should Avoid the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley
Questionable Past
Before you start working with any investment advisor, you should check their FINRA BrokerCheck profile. There, you can learn about the legal disputes they have faced from their clients and the regulatory authorities. I learned from that database that the managing director of this firm isn’t as reliable as he claims to be.
According to the FINRA BrokerCheck profile of Scott Siegel, he had a major legal dispute with one of his clients in 1995.
In the dispute, the client claimed that the bonds they bought from the broker were unsuitable and asked for $15,542.50 in damages.
They settled the case for $7,500. In response to this dispute, Scott claimed that there was no discovery of any wrongful activity.
Facing a lawsuit for making unsuitable recommendations is never a good thing. It shows that Scott Siegel has a history of suggesting investments that don’t align with the goals of his clients.
Earning Commissions from the Sale of Investments
A huge red flag of this firm is that it earns a lot of revenue from commissions. When financial advisors earn commissions from the sale of particular investments, it can lead to several problems.
It introduces bias in the recommendations of the advisor as they have an incentive for ignoring your requirements. In many cases, advisors recommend subpar investments to their clients because they offer higher commissions than others.
Earning from commissions is among the biggest reasons why financial advisors give unsuitable recommendations to their clients. This is why you should be wary of advisors who earn commissions from the sale of investment products.
Also, it limits the number of investments an advisor can recommend to his clients. They have no incentive for recommending investments that don’t offer them commissions or those that offer them low commissions.
So, you might miss out on a lot of suitable investments simply because your advisor wouldn’t make much money from them.
If you’re working with the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley, you should review your investments and see which ones offer them commissions.
Trading Recommended Securities
Another huge red flag in the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley is that it can trade the investments it recommends to its clients. If it was a simple firm that caters primarily to retail clients, this provision would’ve worked. However, that’s not the case here.
The Continuum Group caters specifically to ultra-high net worth executives and families. So, they have access to significant portfolios which they can use for their personal profits.
When your advisor trades the securities he recommends to you, he allows himself to use your funds to manipulate the returns of those investments. For example, they may short-sell an investment and suggest their clients to sell the stock to ramp up their profits.
It’s extremely unethical but quite common. That’s why you should avoid working with advisors who trade recommended securities.
Sadly, the Continuum Group is one of those firms.
Conclusion
The various red flags present in the Continuum Group Morgan Stanley suggest that you can’t trust this firm at all. There are many issues present in the firm’s disclosures.
Moreover, they try their best to distract investors from these issues through their marketing and glamor.
If you value your financial security and future, it would be best for you to find a different service provider in New York. There are plenty of options available.
