Financial Advisor Joseph Thurnherr (Wynston Hill Capital, LLC) Customer Complaints

• March 3, 2020
• Wynston Hill Capital

Joseph Thurnherr (CRD # 5045624) was a Financial Advisor at Wynston Hill Capital, LLC in New York, NY. Joseph Thurnherr has been in the securities industry since 2009 and previously worked at Spartan Capital Securities, LLC, Windsor Street Capital, LP, First Standard Financial Company LLC, National Securities Corporation, Obsidian Financial Group, LLC, Legend Securities, Inc., National Securities Corporation and J.P. Turner & Company, LLC.

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), in February 2020, FINRA barred Joseph Thurnherr from “acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm” for refusing to “provide documents and information requested by FINRA in connection with an investigation into allegations set forth in a customer-initiaed arbitration against him.”

For a copy of the FINRA sanction, click https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/5045624

Throughout his career, Joseph Thurnherr has been the subject of seven customer complaints, including two pending complaints. Among the allegations are the following:
• February 2019 – “UNSUITABLE INVESTMENTS, MISREPRESENTATION, AND BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY.” The matter settled for $50,000.
• April 2017 – “Churning, Margin, Unsuitability and Unauthorized trades from the time period February 2016 to November 2016.” Alleged damages are $383,000, and the matter is currently pending.
• June 2016 – “Customer alleges unsuitability and over-concentration resulting in losses of $84,124 occurring over an 8-9 month period between February and November 2015.” The matter settled for $14,249.

In December 2017, FINRA suspended Joseph Thurnherr for failing to “comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or to satisfactorily respond to a FINRA request to provide information concerning the status of compliance.

In August 2017, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation denied Joseph Thurnherr’s application for making “a material misstatement on the application for registration.

For a copy of Joseph Thurnherr’s CRD, click https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/5045624

Excessive trading often occurs when a Financial Advisor puts his or her interests ahead of the clients and makes transactions solely for the purpose of generating commissions. Financial Advisors have a regulatory duty to recommend suitable investment strategies. One of the components of the suitability analysis is quantitative suitability.

Quantitative suitability requires a brokerage firm or financial advisor with actual or de facto control over a customer’s account to have a reasonable basis for believing that a series of recommended transactions – even if suitable when viewed in isolation – is not excessive and unsuitable for the customer when taken together in light of the customer’s investment profile. No single test defines excessive activity, but factors such as the turnover rate, the cost-equity ratio, and the use of in-and-out trading in a customer’s account may provide a basis for a finding that a member or associated person has violated the quantitative suitability obligation.

Financial advisors have a legal and regulatory obligation to recommend only suitable investments that are appropriate for their clients’ needs and objectives. Their employing brokerage firm has a legal and regulatory obligation to supervise the Financial Advisors’ sales practices and dealings with clients. To the extent any of these duties are breached, the customer may be entitled to a recovery of his or her investment losses.

The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis. Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, P.A., is a trial lawyer who has handled hundreds of securities cases during his career involving a wide range of products, strategies and securities. Prior to representing investors, he was a partner with a national law firm, where he represented some of the largest banks and brokerage firms in the world in securities matters. We can be reached at 800.931.8452 or by email at mwolper@wolperlawfirm.com.