National investment fraud lawyer KlaymanToskes is investigating former Cabot Lodge Securities broker Ann Louise Werts for GWG L Bond sales in light of a recent customer complaint on FINRA BrokerCheck.
According to FINRA BrokerCheck, a customer is complaining about GWG L Bond losses that were sold by Colorado broker Ann Louise Werts. Werts was employed by Cabot Lodge Securities at the time of the GWG L Bond sale.
According to FINRA BrokerCheck, the client is alleging that GWG L Bonds were unsuitable investments and that Cabot Lodge Securities failed to perform due diligence on the new offerings. The client is asking for a return on the original investment. The claim is for $250,000. Werts is denying the allegations.
GWG Holdings, through its subsidiary, GWG Life, LLC, owns and manages a portfolio of life insurance policies. GWG created products known as L Bonds, which pooled money from bond investors to purchase life insurance policies on the secondary market, and then used payouts from the policies when people died to repay the investors. According to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed in April 2022, GWG describes itself as “a financial services firm with two principal types of assets: (1) secondary life insurance assets; and (2) economic interests in independent non-affiliated entities that operate in the alternative assets and epigenetics spaces, respectively.”
On April 20, 2022, GWG Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates, GWG Life, LLC, and GWG Life USA, LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Texas Southern Bankruptcy Court. On its bankruptcy petition, GWG Holdings stated that there are between 25,001 and 50,000 creditors, and its liabilities are between $1,000,000,001 and $10,000,000,000. GWG listed its total assets listed was $3,490,196,000 and total debts was $2,063,192,000.
GWG’s bankruptcy follows recent news reporting and company disclosures about the firm’s financial troubles. For instance, on April 4, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that GWG previously sought rescue financing that would have enabled it to restructure its balance sheet out of court, but recently shifted to pursuing a loan to finance a chapter 11 proceeding. GWG Holdings bankruptcy follows the company’s recent defaults on interest and principal payments, its disclosure about its inability to file an Annual Report on Form 10-K within the prescribed time-period, and an ongoing SEC investigation.
Werts is currently registered as a broker with Madison Avenue Securities, LLC and as an investment adviser with AE Wealth Management (Lakewood, CO). Before joining the two firms in April 2021, Werts worked for 8 years as a broker with Cabot Lodge Securities and 12 years as an investment adviser with CL Wealth Management. Both firms were registered out of Denver, Colorado. Werts hold her Series 66, SIE, and Series 7 licenses.
KlaymanToskes is a leading national securities law firm practicing exclusively in the field of securities arbitration on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. KlaymanToskes has recovered more than $230 million for investors in FINRA arbitrations. KlaymanToskes has office locations in California, Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico.
Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq. (561) 542-5131
lklayman@klaymantoskes.com