Did Your Employer or Broker Lose Your Retirement Savings?
If you spent years, or maybe even your whole adult life, saving for retirement and now you suddenly find yourself with nothing, tragically, you are not alone. Individuals with IRAs, 401(k)s, pensions and other retirement accounts routinely find themselves in this unenviable situation due to fraud, mismanagement and other bad acts committed by their brokers and their employers’ investment managers.
As someone who has spent a lifetime saving for retirement, if your retirement savings is now gone and you suspect that fraud or mismanagement may be to blame, it is important that you act quickly to preserve your chances of recovering your losses. At Zamansky LLC, we will provide you with a free, thorough consultation and take aggressive action to enforce your legal rights.
Did You Invest Through a Private Broker or Brokerage Firm?
If you were investing for retirement through a private broker or brokerage firm (i.e. not through your employer), you could have a number of different grounds for seeking to recover your investment losses. Unfortunately, your situation is all too common, and at Zamansky LLC, we regularly represent clients who have suffered substantial and unexpected losses due to:
- Fraud, including investment scams, mutual fund fraud and unauthorized trades
- Overconcentration in individual investment classes (failure to diversify)
- Unsuitable investment recommendations given the investor’s age, financial condition and risk tolerance
- Use of excessive leverage or margin resulting in extreme risk exposure
- Negligent investment management, including failure to avoid stock market losses
Did You Invest Through Your Employer?
If you invested for retirement through your employer, you may be protected under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA is a federal statute that imposes obligations on employers and investment plan managers that are responsible for safeguarding employees’ retirement savings. If you have a defined benefit plan (i.e. a pension) or a 401(k), employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or other type of defined contribution plan, there is a strong chance that ERISA applies to your situation.
Under ERISA, you may be entitled to compensation for loss of your retirement assets if:
- Your plan manager over-concentrated your retirement portfolio
- Your plan manager failed to take prudent action to avoid investment losses
- Your plan manager continued to purchase your employer’s stock despite knowing damaging information
- Your plan manager or employer misappropriated funds from your account
- Your plan manager or employer failed to service your account with your best interests in mind
Additional information for individuals who invested for retirement through their employers:
- Understanding Your Rights Under ERISA
- ERISA Violations Involving Group Savings Plans and Other Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans
- Real-Life Examples of ERISA Violations
- Have You Suffered Investment Losses Due to an ERISA Violation?
- When Should You Hire an ERISA Lawyer?
Schedule a Free Consultation with an Investment Loss and Financial Fraud Lawyer at Zamansky LLC
To find out if you may be entitled to recover your investment losses, contact Zamansky LLC today for a free consultation. Zamansky LLC is a leading investment loss law firm representing aggrieved investors nationwide. Get started on the road to recovery – call (212) 742-1414 or request a free consultation online now.