Young and Associates – Attractive claims with 0 Authentication
There are plenty of financial advisors in California, one of them is Young and Associates Morgan Stanley. They make many attractive claims about their expertise and competence. However, the leader of this firm, Cheryl Young, is an entitled and disrespectful professional.
Furthermore, the firm has multiple terms and conditions made to trap investors into a compromising situation where they can’t do anything. In the following review, I’ve highlighted the shady provisions present in Young and Associates’ disclosures and the shady professional history of its leader:
About Young and Associates Morgan Stanley
Young and Associates Morgan Stanley is a financial consultancy firm located in Los Gatos, California. The address of their office is 16000 Los Gatos Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95032, US, and the contact number is 408-358-0976.
Cheryl Young runs this firm with her team of eight. She has CFP, ChFC, and CPM certifications and claims to be excellent at financial planning and portfolio management.
CFP (Certified Financial Planner) is the certification course for students desiring a career in financial planning.
ChFC Certificate (Chartered Financial Consultant) is offered by American College of Financial Services, the CAs use the certification as an approved proof of ‘advanced financial planning’.
CPM (Certified Project Manager) is the expert of complete processing of products.
Some of the services they offer here are stock options plans, sustainable investing, stock purchase plans, philanthropic services, estate planning strategies, planning for education funding, financial planning, fixed income, business planning, and more.
At a glance, Cheryl’s firm seems like any ordinary financial advisory firm. However, the various shady provisions present in her disclosures and her professional history tell a whole nother story.
Entitled and Unprofessional Leadership
Before you trust this business with your financial security and safety, you should know about the suspicious professional history of Cheryl Young, the managing director of this firm.
When you look up Cheryl Young on FINRA BrokerCheck, you find 3 client disputes listed on his profile.
FINRA BrokerCheck is a database that tells you about the professional history, experience, qualifications, licenses, and disputes of your advisor. In Cheryl’s case, the first dispute took place on 2-23-2004.
Here, the client alleged an unauthorized class B purchase and requested $5,000 in damages. However, no action was taken because the firm didn’t find anything wrong with the purchase.
Cheryl’s second dispute happened in 2013 and like the last one, nothing happened. Here, the client alleged a REIT purchase in August 2007 was misrepresented and the commissions weren’t disclosed. The client requested $48,513.69 in damages.
The third dispute listed on Cheryl’s FINRA BrokerCheck is dated 11-12-2013. It is a customer complaint received via the Central Florida Better Business Bureau. The customer alleged misrepresentation, unsuitability, and excessive trading. However, the firm took no action on this matter.
Note that shady financial advisors make you agree to so many dangerous terms and conditions at the start of your relationship that you can’t take any legal action against them. You sign multiple waivers when you sign up as a client of Young and Associates Morgan Stanley.
The epitome of Entitlement – Cheryl Young Doesn’t Respect Small Businesses
However, apart from having multiple disputes with her clients, Cheryl Young has had disputes with other businesses. I found a review by a spa called Balance Holistic Health Spa:
The spa owner shares that Cheryl had booked an appointment with her and decided 45 minutes before the appointment that Young and Associates – Morgan Stanleyshe didn’t want to come. Cheryl didn’t want to go to the spa. Instead, she wanted the massage at her place.
The spa owner adds that she runs a brick-and-mortar business and is 35 minutes away. Hence, she wasn’t prepared to come to her. Keep in mind that Cheryl had this change of mind 45 minutes before the time of her appointment.
Cheryl told the spa owner that if she makes it to her place in time, she’ll be able to keep both of her appointments. But the spa owner was incapable of making these changes on such short notice.
When the spa owner said she couldn’t do it and had a 24-hour cancellation policy, Cheryl replied in a sarcastic manner. She said that she didn’t want an attitude, she wanted a healing massage.
The spa owner shares that she felt belittled by Young and Associates – Morgan Stanley as a woman and a small business.
This small incident tells you a lot about the regard Cheryl has for other people. It makes sense now why she has so many shady provisions in her disclosures.
Shady Provisions Present in Young and Associates Morgan Stanley’s Terms and Conditions
Broker-Dealer Conflict
Cheryl Young is a broker-dealer along with being a financial advisor. Studies show that being a broker-dealer has a negative impact on the quality of service a fiduciary provides.
That’s because broker-dealers earn a lot of money from commissions. They earn this commission from “selling” the investment products of their firm or their affiliates.
Ideally, your financial advisor would recommend investments based solely on their suitability for you. However, in the case of Young and Associates Morgan Stanley, the advisors recommend the investments that help them get the highest commissions.
Charging Performance-based Fees
Another issue with this firm is that it charges performance-based fees, a highly notorious practice in the finance industry. Young and Associates – Morgan StanleyCharging performance-based fees incentivize the firm to employ high-risk strategies regardless of their suitability for the client.
It’s very rare for a high-risk strategy to be suitable for a client. As the name suggests, these strategies have a high risk of failure and can cause substantial losses to your invested capital.
Moreover, you can’t take any action against your financial advisor for employing such dangerous strategies because of the waivers you sign ahead of hiring them. If these strategies work, the financial advisor can charge you hefty performance-based fees.
You should be particularly cautious if you want to focus on long-term security.
Charging performance-based fees is popular among shady financial advisors. For example, James P Marten Merrill Lynch also uses this tactic to leech money off of his clients.
Conclusion
Young and Associates Morgan Stanley is a terrible financial advisory firm. The leader of this firm doesn’t respect other professionals and has a long history of client disputes.
Furthermore, the firm has numerous shady provisions in its terms and conditions. Working with such a firm has many drawbacks. That’s why it’s recommended to find an independent firm with better terms and conditions for you.
