John Sykes quits GunnAllen board, CFO walks

GunnAllen Financial Inc. appears to be in serious disarray and faces questions about its future after its owner and chairman quit the company’s board of directors.
It was not clear when John Sykes, who bought the beleaguered firm last year, resigned. Industry sources said a number of other directors at the firm quit as well.
Mr. Sykes did not return phone calls to comment Thursday morning.
Scott Bendert, CFO of GunnAllen Holdings and acting chairman of the broker-dealer, also resigned, sources said.
Fred Kraus, the broker-dealer’s president and acting CEO, sent an e-mail to the firm’s brokers on Thursday afternoon and said that, despite the turnover of senior management, it will be “business as usual” for the brokers, according to a rep who read the e-mail to InvestmentNews. The firm would also call on its founders, Rick Frueh and Jay Gunn, for advice and support going forward, the e-mail said.
The firm’s advisers were scheduled to have a conference call with management late Thursday.
Mr. Sykes is the founder and chairman emeritus of call center operator Sykes Enterprises Inc. of Tampa, Fla. He led the investment group that acquired a controlling position in the parent company of the independent broker-dealer, which earlier this decade was one of the fastest-growing firms in the industry.
Mr. Sykes was chairman of Gunn Allen Holdings Inc. of Tampa, the parent of GunnAllen Financial. When he bought GunnAllen last September, the amount he paid for the firm was not disclosed. Mr. Sykes named four of seven members of the reorganized company’s board.
GunnAllen continues to grapple with lawsuits and litigation stemming from a rogue broker, Frank Bluestein who sold investments in what turned out to be a $250 million Ponzi scheme, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint.
The firm was also one of the independent broker-dealers that sold securities of Provident Asset Management, a series of oil and gas deals that the SEC this summer charged with fraud. Investors have begun to sue firms and advisers over the Provident investments.
According to the most recent InvestmentNews survey, GunnAllen Financial had 726 affiliated reps, with 285 of those producing more than $100,000 in fees and commissions.
In March, Mr. Sykes used a tragic occasion to confirm his desire to keep the company on course.
GunnAllen Holdings and GunnAllen Financial’s CEO, Gordon Loetz, died in a boating accident. Mr. Loetz was a close personal friend of Mr. Sykes, as well as his personal financial adviser.
After Mr. Loetz’s death, Mr. Sykes said in a statement: “The firm will continue and we are committed to seeing Gordie’s vision for the firm fulfilled.”
That appears to no longer be the case.