The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. has helped investors recover losses from broker securities fraud for over 45 years.
A nationwide law firm, they represent defrauded investors, stockbrokers, and financial advisors in securities fraud cases, FINRA arbitrations, and regulatory enforcement matters involving the SEC, CFTC, and FINRA.
Founded and led by Robert Wayne Pearce who has over 45 years of experience in investment fraud law, the securities law firm focuses primarily on helping investors recover losses from investment fraud while also defending financial professionals in regulatory actions and employment disputes within the securities industry.
The firm's attorneys handle complex investment disputes including private placement and Regulation D fraud, structured products litigation, and broker-dealer misconduct cases.
The investment and securities fraud lawyers at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce P.A., represents clients on all sides of securities, commodities and investment fraud and other issues in a broad range of practice areas in courtroom litigation, arbitration, SEC defense, and mediation proceedings.
Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce and his team have handled hundreds of FINRA, AAA and JAMs securities arbitration and mediation cases for satisfied clients located in many U.S. states and throughout the world.
Our investment and securities fraud lawyers have represented investors throughout the United States and internationally. We have recovered over $185 million for our investor clients in all types of stockbroker fraud and broker and advisor misconduct cases.
At The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., we believe the ultimate barometer of our success is surpassing the expectation of our clients.
The following clients have direct knowledge of our law firm's processes from the inside and experienced our securities fraud attorneys' fierce advocacy.
FINRA arbitration can help investors recover losses, but results depend on preparation and strategy. Our attorneys conduct a detailed case review, draft a fact-rich Statement of Claim, and manage arbitrator selection, discovery, mediation, and hearing presentation. We focus on evidence, deadlines, and damages analysis so clients know what to expect from start to award today.
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If you invested in an Inspired Healthcare Capital DST, income fund, or private placement and lost money, you are not alone. Thousands of investors are now facing suspended distributions, frozen capital, and the very real possibility of total loss after Inspired Healthcare Capital (IHC)’s downfall and subsequent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on February 2, 2026.
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If your securities-backed credit line or margin account was hit with margin calls and liquidated, recovery focuses on what your advisor recommended and disclosed before the account opened—not the liquidation itself. Misrepresentations, unsuitable leverage for conservative investors, and concentration can support claims. Investors often must pursue FINRA arbitration or mediation to seek reimbursement and fees.
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Investment Fraud Lawyer | Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A | Securities Law Firm
With a Successful Track Record for Recovery of Investment Losses
Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce is a well-respected advocate for investors throughout the legal community, known as a fierce litigator and tireless not only in Florida but across the nation and near you.
Read his Investors’ Rights Blog and discover the breadth of his knowledge that can only be gained from over 45 years of legal experience for yourself. As one of the most experienced in FINRA arbitration, Mr. Pearce knows all of the available options for your case and will pursue them vigorously to secure the best possible outcome for you and your stockbroker fraud and stockbroker misconduct case.
He has earned a peer rating of AV Preeminent * through the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating process, the highest available rating through that program.
Mr. Pearce is one of Thomson Reuters Florida Super Lawyers ** for Securities Litigation (Top 5). Read the feature article about him in the Florida 2014 Super Lawyers magazine entitled: “No Excuses – How Robert Wayne Pearce Stared Down Personal Disaster”.
During his more than 45 years of experience practicing securities and commodities law, he has won numerous million-dollar awards and settlements for his clients which has earned him recognition for his success by The Million Dollar Advocates Forum and The Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum as one of the Top Trial Lawyers in America TM***.
By hiring The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., you get access to his over 45 years of experience practicing in the area of securities, commodities and investment fraud on both sides of the table in arbitrations and courtroom litigation, and you will clearly see his legal experience and knowledge in action. Having a fierce litigator and tireless advocate of your rights, and one who will quickly identify both the strengths and the weaknesses of your case will surely increase the likelihood of winning your case.
A closed-end fund is a registered investment company that raises a fixed pool of capital through an initial public offering. A closed-end fund issues a fixed number of shares and then trades on a stock exchange like any other listed security. If you own one and have never been told how the price is set, you are in the same position as most of the investors who come to us. The fund does not issue new shares when demand rises and does not redeem shares when you want out. Instead, closed-end fund shares change hands between other investors on an exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange, at whatever price the market will bear on any trading day. Closed-end funds, or CEFs, as some listings abbreviate them, are a long-established structure. The fund’s investment strategy is set out before launch, and buying the fund’s shares on the exchange is the only way in. They are actively managed and professionally managed portfolios, and the fund’s investment objectives are set out in a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. How Do Closed-End Funds Work? A closed-end fund raises money once, then investors trade the shares among themselves. The share price and the value of the portfolio behind it are therefore two separate numbers. The IPO and the Fixed Share Count A closed-end fund launches at a set offering price and raises a fixed amount of capital before the offering closes for good. Where the sponsor pays the selling brokers out of those proceeds, the fund begins life holding less than the investors actually paid in. Rights offerings and share buybacks can change the count later, though neither happens often enough to rely on. That fixed share count is the defining feature of the whole structure. Trading on the Secondary Market From the day it lists, you buy and sell a closed-end fund through a broker on the secondary market. Unlike an open-end mutual fund, you generally trade with other market participants rather than redeeming your shares directly with the fund. The price comes from what other people are willing to pay rather than from the value of the fund assets. A publicly traded CEF’s share price moves with the stock market and with investor sentiment, and thin trading volume makes some funds expensive or slow to sell. Liquidity can be a real concern when you need to sell quickly. And because the market price can differ from the value of the fund’s assets, there’s one more figure you need to know before you buy: the fund’s net asset value. Net Asset Value (NAV) vs Market Price Net asset value is the total net assets of the underlying holdings minus liabilities, divided by the outstanding shares. A closed-end fund’s market price is a separate number set by the market. An open-end mutual fund transacts at NAV, and a closed-end fund does not. A CEF trades at a discount when its market price is below NAV and at a premium when it is above NAV. Before you buy, compare the two to see whether the shares are trading below or above the value of the fund’s assets. Why Closed-End Funds Trade at a Discount If a fund trades below its net asset value, something about the manager, the fees, or the assets is keeping buyers away. Investors may distrust the management, or the fees may run high relative to peers, or the portfolio assets may be illiquid and hard to value. A persistent discount is not automatically a bargain, and finding that out after you have bought is an expensive way to learn it. A discount can narrow, and that narrowing is where your investment return comes from if you buy well, but nothing forces a discount to close, and it can widen instead. Now look at the opposite case, because paying above net asset value carries its own cost. Why Closed-End Funds Trade at a Premium Paying a premium means handing over more than a dollar for every dollar of assets you receive. Buyers usually pay it because of the size of the distribution or the reputation of the manager. High distributions may attract plenty of buyers. But if demand fades, the premium can narrow even when the fund’s portfolio has not lost value. Someone who bought at that premium can lose money simply because the market price moves closer to NAV. Closed-End Funds vs Open-End Mutual Funds Open-end funds create and cancel shares on demand, so you buy from the fund, and you sell back to the fund. Both transactions happen at the net asset value calculated after the market closes, while closed-end funds trade at a market price all day. Freedom from redemption pressure lets a closed-end fund manager hold illiquid securities without worrying that a wave of withdrawals will force a sale at the worst moment. You carry the liquidity risk instead, and it shows up as a share price that may not track the portfolio for years at a time. The same structural difference also shapes what these funds are able to hold. Types of Closed-End Funds and Related Investment Vehicles Closed-end funds invest in many different asset classes. Some of them are: Nearly all of these funds exist to pay you income, and that is why most people buy them rather than for capital appreciation. What Are Interval Funds? An interval fund is a registered closed-end fund that offers to repurchase shares from investors at set intervals rather than listing on an exchange. Brokers sometimes present them as ordinary closed-end funds without explaining the difference, and the difference is the part that will affect you. Repurchase offers come round every three, six, or twelve months, and each one covers between five and twenty-five percent of the shares outstanding. Interval funds do not list on an exchange or trade on an over-the-counter market, so there is no market price and no discount to track. The word limited is doing a great deal of work in that...
Learn MoreThe Series 7 licenses a person to sell securities to the investing public, while the Series 79 licenses a person to advise companies on investment banking deals. Take the Series 7 if you want to recommend and trade stocks, bonds, and funds for retail customers at a broker-dealer. Take the Series 79 if you want to work on offerings, mergers, and restructurings for the companies issuing those securities. The investment fraud lawyer team at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. has spent 45 years representing investors, and we see how often the license behind a recommendation shapes the claim that follows it. In this guide, we explain what each license permits, how the two exams compare, which career path takes which exam, and how to check any professional’s licenses yourself. What Is the Difference Between the Series 7 and the Series 79? The Series 7 and the Series 79 are securities licensing exams from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that authorize two different jobs for a registered representative. A Series 7 holder works with the investing public, and a Series 79 holder works with the companies that issue securities. One license is retail, and the other is corporate, which is why most investors meet Series 7 holders constantly and Series 79 holders almost never. The distinction sounds academic until money is lost, because the license determines what its holder was permitted to do, what rules governed the work, and which forum hears a dispute about it. Both are top-off exams, built on the Securities Industry Essentials exam, the SIE exam FINRA requires as a corequisite before either registration becomes effective. If a person you invest with holds one of these licenses, the one they hold tells you what they are actually allowed to do for you. Because the licenses authorize different work, the place to start is what each holder can do. What Can Each License Holder Do? The two registrations authorize different activities, and neither substitutes for the other. FINRA defines both in its exam outlines, and the definitions draw the line clearly. The Series 7: General Securities Representative A Series 7 holder is a general securities representative, licensed to solicit orders and trade securities for public customers through a broker-dealer. That covers the full retail menu: stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment company products. The firm may earn commissions or other transaction-related compensation, but that depends on its compensation structure. The registration also allows the representative to open customer accounts, assess a customer’s financial profile and investment objectives, and carry out orders based on that information. FINRA’s exam outline reflects the range of activities covered by the registration. Their recommendations are governed by Regulation Best Interest, the SEC rule requiring a broker to act in your best interest at the time a recommendation is made. You can read how this license compares with the adviser side in our Series 65 vs. Series 7 guide. The Series 79: Investment Banking Representative The Series 79 qualifies professionals for the investment banking representative registration, which covers debt and equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, financial restructurings, and asset sales. FINRA’s own exam outline defines the role in exactly those terms, and the definition is worth reading closely. Notice who the client is: the issuing company rather than the investor, which is why most retail investors never deal with a Series 79 holder directly. Their work still reaches you, though, through the securities that the deal work produces. When a company sells bonds to fund an acquisition, an investment banking representative structured that offering, priced it, and prepared the disclosure investors later relied on. Investment bankers are the start of the chain that ends in your portfolio. Day-to-Day Responsibilities of an Investment Banking Representative The day-to-day work behind the Series 79 involves core investment banking functions rather than customer accounts. It covers offerings, M&A, and financial restructuring. Debt and Equity Offerings and Private Placements The offerings half is underwriting: registered public offerings of debt and equity, and private placements sold to investors under an exemption from registration. Equity securities offerings range from initial public offerings to follow-on sales, while debt work runs from investment-grade bonds to the high-yield issues that fund riskier companies. Investment bankers run both ends of that range. We recommend noting the Series 82 here too, the private securities offerings representative license, since that narrower registration covers private offerings alone. Series 79 representatives can participate in private and public offerings as part of their investment banking activities. Other registered representatives may handle the solicitation or sale of the investment to customers. If you lost money on a private placement, you need to look at who recommended or sold the investment and what role the firm played in the transaction. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Financial Restructuring The other half of the job is mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, and financial restructuring transactions. The investment banking activities FINRA lists include advising the buyer or the seller, valuing the target, and running the tender process when one company bids for another’s shares. FINRA Series 79 exam reflects these areas too. Of its 75 scored questions, 37 focus on data analysis and evaluation, 20 on underwriting and new financing, and 18 on M&A, tender offers, and financial restructuring. Restructuring work includes distressed companies, which is the corporate end of events investors usually experience as losses. A financial restructuring reshapes what a company owes and to whom, through exchanges, amendments, or asset sales, and bondholders usually come out holding something different from what they bought. The banker advising the company and the investor holding its bonds are on opposite sides of the same transaction. How Hard Is Each Exam? Both exams are entry gates rather than rankings, and each tests the knowledge for its own job. FINRA’s exam pages publish no pass rate for either, and difficulty comparisons between them are mostly folklore, because almost nobody takes both exams under the same conditions. The figures below are...
Learn MoreUnauthorized trading is a broker buying or selling in your investment account without your permission and without the written authority to trade on their own. In a Ponzi scheme, the fraud is the investment itself, but here the fraud is the decision: someone else made it in your account. If a trade confirmation has ever arrived for a transaction you do not remember approving, you have seen how this problem announces itself. In this guide, our investment fraud lawyer team will walk you through what unauthorized trading is and what the FINRA rules require. We also cover how discretionary accounts change the answer, and how to spot unauthorized transactions on your statements. What Is Unauthorized Trading? Unauthorized trading happens when a broker or financial advisor places a trade in a customer’s account without instruction and without written discretionary authority. You gave that instruction either by directing the trade yourself or by signing a discretionary agreement beforehand. Outside of that, the trade was not the broker’s to make. The violation is the missing permission rather than the outcome, so an unauthorized trade is misconduct even when it makes money. Any financial harm it causes may be the firm’s to answer for. A profitable trade you never approved is still a decision someone else took with your account, and the next one may not be profitable. Federal law and FINRA rules both reach this conduct, from different directions. Because the rules are specific, it helps to see what they actually require. What the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Rules Say The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority treats unauthorized trading as a violation of FINRA Rule 2010, which requires members to observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade. Trading a customer’s account without proper authorization fails that standard on its face. FINRA Rule 3260 adds the specifics for discretionary accounts: no broker may exercise discretion in a client’s account until the customer has given prior written authorization and the brokerage firm has accepted the account in writing. Obtaining authorization first, in writing, and getting the firm’s acceptance is the rule’s whole point. The same rule bans discretionary trades that are excessive in size or frequency, which is where unauthorized trading meets excessive trading. We advise complaining promptly and in writing when a transaction you did not approve appears, because a dated written objection anchors everything that follows. So when exactly is a broker allowed to trade in your account without asking first? Discretionary vs. Non-Discretionary Investment Accounts A broker can trade without calling you first if you have a discretionary account, one where you’ve granted written trading authority and the firm has approved it. The SEC notes that a broker may be able to sell securities in a margin account without consulting you if the account falls below the firm’s requirements. But in other investment accounts, the broker needs your instruction before making a trade. It doesn’t matter what strategy you and the broker have already discussed. Our guide to discretionary and non-discretionary accounts covers how to choose between them. The line itself is the point: a verbal “you handle it” habit does not create discretionary authority, however friendly the relationship. Many investors believed a standing phone arrangement counted as permission. It does not, and that paperwork failure belongs to the firm rather than to you. How to Spot Unauthorized Transactions on Your Account Statements Your account statements and trade confirmations are where unauthorized transactions surface, usually within days of the trade. If you suspect unauthorized trading, we recommend reading each confirmation against what you actually instructed: If a trade you authorized is marked as unsolicited, that can raise questions. The best thing to do is object in writing the moment you see a trade you did not approve, and keep a copy. Because if you delay, it may become harder to dispute the trade later. Contact Our Investment Fraud Attorneys About Unauthorized Trading We understand how unsettling it is to find your account did things without you. The firm may argue you consented, and the paper record decides that argument. Here at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., we have 45 years of experience representing investors and have recovered more than $185 million for our clients. Our success rate across litigation, arbitration, and settlements is 99%. We work on a contingency basis, so there is no fee unless we recover for you. Claims like these are heard in FINRA arbitration rather than in court. Call us at (800) 732-2889 for a free consultation, or read more about unauthorized trading claims and recovery.
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