If you are an investor living in the New Orleans area, you have no doubt become familiar with The Spiro Group Morgan Stanley. James Spiro is a well-known figure in the area and is believed to be the mastermind behind this operation. But that doesn’t make him a trustworthy financial advisor in any way, shape, or form.
The Spiro Group at Morgan Stanley is notorious for taking advantage of high-net-worth people and institutions by luring them into unfavorable contracts. Their terms and conditions contain a number of items that are troublesome, which you should be aware of. By gaining an understanding of them, you will be better able to assess whether or not they are actually worthy of your trust:
The Spiro Group in a Nutshell Morgan Stanley
We are the Spiro Group. Morgan Stanley is a financial advisory firm that can be found in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, at 1100 Poydras Street, Suite 1900. Their phone is 504-585-3977 if you need to reach them.
They assert that they place a primary emphasis on comprehending the monetary objectives of their customers in order to provide individualized and hands-on financial guidance to those customers. In addition, the company asserts that it is able to assist its customers in concentrating on their long-term objectives by assisting them in avoiding the distraction of short-term difficulties.
They provide their services to individuals and organizations that have a significant amount of wealth. The company concentrates its efforts on the creation of novel business planning, stock research, and portfolio hedging strategies.
The following are some of the many services that are available at this location:
- Estate planning strategies
- the escrow or trust accounts
- Deposit contracts or certificates
- Qualified retirement plans
- 529 plans
- Products for managing money and loans are also available
- Exchange-traded funds
- Corporate retirement plans
- Rollovers of existing 401(k) account for wealth management
- Municipal bonds
- Bonds issued by companies
Spiro Group Morgan Stanley is led by James M. Spiro, who serves as the firm’s managing director. David Butscher, Marc H. Miller, Romi Gonzalez, III, and Michael L. Galiardi are some of the other notable people associated with this company.
It would appear that this company is making inappropriate use of its brand name, despite the fact that it has earned a great deal of notoriety. It is in your best interest to look into the following provisions before entrusting them with any of your financial information. Because their disclosures contain an excessive number of provisions that could be considered problematic:
There are a Number of Reasons Why You Should Not Put Your Trust in the Spiro Group Morgan Stanley
Protracted History of Conflicts with Customers
You should start by looking at a wealth advisor’s profile on FINRA BrokerCheck before you check out his other credentials. On that page, you’ll find information about his experience, as well as his state licenses, certificates, and the legal conflicts he’s been involved in.
1994 was the year of his first disagreement. The client in this case made allegations of unsuitability, exploitation of an unsophisticated customer, breach of the Know Thy Customer rule, and other violations of industry norms.
They reached a settlement in the dispute for the sum of $35,000.
As a response to this dispute, Spiro Group Morgan Stanley asserted that he had thoroughly discussed every investment with the client and that she is not a client who lacks financial sophistication. In addition, he asserted that the only reason he agreed to settle the lawsuit was to spare himself the trouble and expense of a prolonged legal conflict.
James faced his third dispute in 2004. In this case, the customer claimed that the investment had been misrepresented to them. But they didn’t specify any damages.
The firm refuted the claim. On the other hand, they have not elaborated on the grounds on which they rejected this claim. So, there’s no way to find out why the firm was able to deny the claim.
Such a long history of legal disputes shows that Spiro Group Morgan Stanley doesn’t hesitate to give unsuitable recommendations. It’s a pattern. There is no doubt that James does not care as much about his customers as he asserts that he does.
As you read through his disclosures, you will come to the conclusion that he still does not care about his customers:
Charging Hidden Fees
The first red flag in the terms and conditions of the Spiro Group Morgan Stanley is that it charges 12b-1 fees. This is a marketing fee that goes straight into the advisor’s pockets.
It doesn’t reflect any value. The 12b-1 charge just inflates the cost of the investment. According to an SEC study, the returns of the investments that charge this fee are no better than the investments that don’t charge this fee.
Therefore, the return on investment (ROI) of investments that carry a 12b-1 fee is lower than that of other investments because the returns are comparable and the costs have increased.
As a result, you wind up spending more money without receiving anything in exchange.
Another difficulty with 12b-1 fees is that it’s a percentage charge. This indicates that the amount you pay is contingent upon the total value of your investment portfolio. As a consequence of this, the 12b-1 charge is not appropriate for investors that have big portfolios.
Conclusion
Because of James Spiro’s troubled past and the problematic provisions, the Spiro Group at Morgan Stanley is an awful option for any investor to go with. They cannot be trusted, and their leader has a protracted track record of making false statements.
By bragging about its accomplishments, the company does everything it can to divert the attention of potential investors away from the red flags that have been raised. However, if you value your financial safety, you should avoid dealing with them altogether.
