Finra bars ex-UBS broker in Texas who sold phony annuities

According to Robert Earl Turner's BrokerCheck profile, UBS has settled six disputes with his customers for close to $12 million.

A 25-year veteran financial advisor who worked for UBS Financial Services Inc. in Waco, Texas, was barred from the securities industry Friday by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. for his role in off-the-books, private securities transactions, according to Finra.

The financial advisor, Robert Earl Turner Jr., was involved in private securities transactions from 1997 to 2021 without notifying UBS, an infraction of industry rules, Finra said. He began working at the firm in 1996.

“Specifically, Turner marketed, recommended and sold ‘fixed annuities’ offered by Fairfax Financial Corp. to at least 30 UBS customers, who collectively invested more than $7.2 million in Fairfax,” according to the Finra settlement, in which Turner consented to without admitting or denying Finra’s findings. The so-called annuities turned out not to be insurance contracts but instead were securities, according to Finra, and Turned made these transactions without telling the firm.

“Turner actively concealed from UBS his involvement in selling the ‘fixed annuities,’ which he knew were not an approved UBS product,” according to Finra.

The matter started with a regulatory tip made to Finra, according to the settlement.

A UBS spokesperson declined to comment Monday on any pending litigation in the matter but added that the firm takes its responsibility to clients seriously and has compensated all affected clients for any losses.

Turner’s attorney, John S. Morgan, did not comment Monday morning about the matter.

UBS began its investigation of Turner in October 2021, around the time he was leaving the wirehouse to work at another firm, according to Finra. UBS concluded its investigation of Turner in April 2022, and disclosed that Turner had knowingly caused clients to send money to a fraudulent business entity, according to Finra.

According to a report last May in the Waco Tribune, UBS sued Turner in state court, “claiming he and his ‘college buddy’ Mark Woodward cooked up a scheme to sell investments Turner was not authorized by UBS to market,” and UBS was reimbursing clients.

Turner’s BrokerCheck profile shows UBS has settled six disputes with customers of Turner for close to $12 million. Turner has not worked in the securities industry for the past year.