Financial Advisor Joel Davidman (Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated) Customer Complaints

• May 19, 2019
• Stifel Nicolaus & Company

Joel Davidman is a Financial Advisor at Stifel Nicolaus in Beverly Hills, California.  Joel Davidman entered the securities industry in 1981 and previously worked for Morgan Stanley for 35 years before being terminated for “allegations relating to the registered representative’s discretionary trades in client accounts without written authorization.” 

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), in April 2019, a customer filed a complaint against Joel Davidman, alleging “that registered representative recommended unsuitable investments.”  Joel Davidman has two prior customer complaints, dated 1999 and 2008.  The 2008 customer complaint alleges that “financial advisor did not suitably manage the trust by allowing margin against a portfolio fo junk bonds…”  The matter was settled for $225,000. 

Separately, Joel Davidman has been the subject of two regulatory investigations.  In 2017, FINRA sanctioned Joel Davidman, suspending him for 45 days.  The letter of acceptance, waiver and consent, stated:

“Without admitting or denying the findings, Davidman consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he exercised discretionary trading authority in the accounts of customers without obtaining prior written authorization from each of the customers or approval from his member firm to treat the customers’ accounts as discretionary. The findings stated that specifically, Davidman effected some of the trades using time and price discretion and the remaining occurred without Davidman discussing and receiving approval for the trades from the customers on the dates of the transactions. The findings also stated that Davidman completed the firm’s annual compliance attestation and as part of that process, he falsely attested that he did not have any customer accounts in which he conducted transactions on a discretionary basis.”

A copy of the FINRA sanction can be accessed by clicking https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/fda_documents/2015045714801_FDA_JM992871.pdf

In addition, in February 2018, the California Department of Insurance suspended his license for 10 days. 

For a copy of Joel Davidman’s CRD, click https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/861180#disclosuresSection

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 represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis.  Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, 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.