Margaret Powers Subject of Washington Securities Complaint Regarding ETFs
Have you lost money with investment advisor Margaret Powers of Bellevue, Washington? We are investigating allegations made by the Washington Securities Division against Margaret Powers, Gordon Powers, and Summit Wealth Solutions. Washington alleged that Powers used inverse and leveraged ETFs in an unsuitable manner.
ETFs are typically used to track and replicate the performance of an index, such as the S&P 500, the Russell 2000, or the Dow Jones. ETFs are popular, because investors can invest in a basket of securities that provides diversification but with the simplicity of being a single stock. Leveraged ETFs try to replicate the performance of a particular index, but attempt to replicate the performance by doubling or even tripling the index. Inverse ETFs also try to replicate the opposite (or even multiple opposites) of a particular index. Leveraged and inverse ETFs can be useful investment tools for investors seeking intra-day trading.
However, inverse and leveraged ETFs are often misused, by retail investors and even financial advisors. The regulators and others have long-warned the securities industry about the dangers of inverse and leveraged ETFs. These are designed to be day-trading vehicles, but often financial advisors recommend holding these ETFs in an investor’s accounts for weeks or even months.
Margaret Powers has been an investment advisor and registered representative of Summit Wealth Solutions from September 2011 to the present. Gordon Powers has not been licensed since 2006. Margaret and Gordon Powers worked at branch offices in Bellevue, Washington.
Advisory firms like Summit Wealth Solutions have a responsibility to adequately supervise all representatives who are registered through their firm. Advisory firms also must take steps to ensure that their advisors follow all securities rules and regulations, as well as internal firm policies. When brokerage firms fail to adequately supervise their registered representatives, they may be liable for investment losses sustained by customers.
Israels & Neuman PLC is a securities and investment fraud law firm with offices in Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Phoenix, Arizona. We represent investors in arbitration proceedings in all 50 states, including investors in Seattle area in the past. Our attorneys have represented over one thousand investors against many firms in the past.