Stifel, Nicolaus & Co

[mollyanna58]

My elderly father went to see a couple of brokers at Stiefel, Nicolaus today. They had previously worked for another brokerage where my father has some REIT investments. They left the firm and apparently are trying to poach some customers.

They told him the prior firm has been having financial difficulties, and has limited the amount that can be withdrawn from REITs at any one time. I know my father was complaining a few months ago when he tried to cash in some investments and there was a considerable delay in his getting the funds.

They told him that Stifel, Nicolaus was the third largest brokerage firm in the US, and that the firm acquired Paine Webber a while back.

Now, I am getting this information second hand, but it doesn't seem accurate. I did not find much about Stifel on the internet. One source said they have 56 former Paine Webber offices. The first thing that came up when I did a search was a solicitation from a law firm for people who have lost large sums with Stifel.

Does anyone have any experience with Stifel?

Thanks in advance.

[The Virginian]

Never heard of them. I would be very careful.

According to their Website they have been around since 1830 - but they are not showing up in any top brokerage searches so they could be mostly regional.

Here is their Website : www.stifel.com/framesetURL.asp?URL=/homepageFrameset.asp

What firm is supposedly having financial trouble? That would be valuable information to know!



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[The Virginian]

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[mollyanna58]

Thank you for the information. I will recommend that he tread cautiously.

What firm is supposedly having financial trouble? That would be valuable information to know!

David Lerner and Associates. They specialize in REITs, and he has done quite well with them over the years. But he did have trouble getting cash out recently.

He has accounts at TDAmeritrade, Schwab, and whatever Olde/H&R Block evolved into. He makes a lot of his own investment decisions, but also likes to listen to broker's advice.
He had an account years ago at Paine Webber, which turned into UBS; I'm not sure it that still exists.

My grandfather, father, and I all had dealings in the past with an area firm called Ryan, Beck, and they sold out to Stifel about 5 years ago.



note: edited to fix typo

[The Virginian]

A quick search turned up the following on David Lerner:

recoverdavidlernerlosses.com/id8.html

Do another search under "david lerner and associates problems" and you will see pages of links discussing problems with them.



I have Reits also - Most are doing well right now and are expected to continue as long as Interest Rates remain low. As soon as rates start rising again I will them. I have mine through Charles Schwab. No problems with them.

[Bluerobin]

The only thing I know about them is locally, they took over a UBS location. I just switched from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to Edward Jones. So far, I am satisfied. Money Magazine recently ranked them number one for full service brokers. I also maintain accounts for Scottrade - for a discount brokerage, they have a lot of services.


Note: Paine Webber was acquired by UBS!!!

[brdsl]

They are headquartered about 45 min from me. They are growing quickly, and a few people I know work their. They have been around a long time, and used to do quite a bit of work with public entities in regards to selling bonds for capital improvements, etc. I think that was their niche...I think they have since moved on to getting individual investors like a Schwab. If you need specific info, let me know..I will ask the people I know. The one recently passed some test series 7 maybe.

Stifle had problems when the market crashed, can't recall specifics, but it happened when money markets were losing money, instead of gaining.

I use vanguard, but since we don't know the specifics on his investments, it's tough to know if they can be moved.