IBD Provides Guide to Help Advisors Recognize Elder Financial Abuse

Securities America has released a new guide for its advisors that tackles the issues of elder financial abuse and diminished capacity. A subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann, Securities America is one of the country’s largest independent broker-dealers, boasting over 1,800 independent advisors who manage $50 billion in client assets.

Titled, “Working with Clients Displaying Diminished Capacity and Recognizing Elder Financial Abuse Guide”, the guide includes signs to look for and ways to recognize diminished capacity and elder financial abuse, as well as steps to take in such circumstances. 

The guide can be useful for advisors working with clients invested in non-traded direct investments since many investors in these products tend to be of the age in which symptoms of diminished capacity may start to show. 

“Raising awareness on this topic for all our advisors addresses risk management issues, and provides a platform to offer a higher level of client engagement,” commented Kirk Hulett, executive vice president of strategy and practice management for Securities America. “We interviewed several advisors and then had our team of experts build out a comprehensive resource designed for protecting both the advisor and the client,” he added.

The guide was created in response to conversations with advisors in a study group. Advisors expressed their concerns and the practice management solutions experts at Securities America constructed the guide to help advisors better serve the aging population while protecting their practice at the same time.