DALLAS, Sept. 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lawyers with the Securities Law Firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP, www.sseklaw.com, have recently filed a claim on behalf of a client involving Hugh Stout Jr. ("Stout") and Next Financial Group, Inc. ("Next"). According to the claim, Stout was retained by a near-retirement client with virtually no investment experience who needed her life savings to be prudently invested to last a lifetime.
The claim alleges that Stout, instead of investing the money in suitable, low risk, income bearing investments and embarked upon a speculative, incredibly high risk trading strategy, losing a substantial portion of the client's life savings in a matter of months. The investments described in the complaint as selected by Stout include heavy exposure to gold based exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), options, and other high risk stocks. All of these securities carry very high risks of loss, none of which were appropriate for the client, according to the complaint.
Typically, when a broker engages in wholly inappropriate trading with one of their clients, there are many other clients who were mistreated, misled, or otherwise hurt without even realizing it. People who currently or in the past have held brokerage accounts with Hugh Stout Jr. or Next Financial Group, Inc. should carefully review their accounts to ensure that their accounts were handed properly. If you are or were a client of Hugh Stout Jr. or Next Financial Group, Inc., contact the law firm of Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas LLP for an evaluation of your account to determine if you might have a claim to attempt to recover some or all of your losses. All communications will be kept strictly confidential, and you will not be billed in any way for a consultation.
Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP has a team of attorneys, consultants and staff with more than 100 years of combined experience in the securities industry and in securities law. For more than two decades, our firm has represented thousands of investors nationwide to recover losses. We have represented clients in Federal and state courts and in arbitration through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New York Stock Exchange Inc. (NYSE), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and in private arbitration actions.