Schwartz Law is currently investigating claims against Scott Roslonowski located in Indian Harbor Beach, Florida who is associated with Ameriprise Financial. We are seeking information from anyone who has had dealings with Mr. Roslonowski, or who had similar investment-related losses when dealing with Mr. Roslonowski regarding the sale of complex variable annuities, universal life insurance products and non-traded real estate investment trusts (“REITS”). Based on our preliminary investigation, it appears that Mr. Roslonowski sold these products to his clients when the products were not suitable for them, and made materials misrepresentations to clients at the point of sale in order to induce the clients to purchase these products.
What is a Variable Annuity?
A variable annuity is a contract between an investor and an insurance company. It serves as an investment account that may grow on a tax-deferred basis and includes certain insurance features, such as the ability to turn the account into a stream of periodic payments. A variable annuity contract can be purchased by making either a single purchase payment or a series of purchase payments. They typical offer a range of investment options, but pay very high commissions to the sales representative and typically have long surrender periods (i.e., high fees that must be paid to liquidate the contract). The value of a variable annuity contract will vary depending on the performance of the investment options selected. The investment options for a variable annuity are typically mutual funds that invest in stocks, bonds, money market instruments, or some combination of the three. Every variable annuity is unique and extremely complicated to understand.
What is Universal Life Insurance?
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that, like other permanent insurance, has a cash value element and offers lifetime coverage as long as you pay your premiums. Unlike whole life insurance, universal life allows you to raise or lower your premiums within certain limits, and it can be cheaper than whole life coverage. However, if your investments underperform or you underpay for too long, it could affect your death benefit or cause your policy to lapse.
What are Non-Traded REITs?
A real estate investment trust refers to a trust company that owns, operates, and finances income-generating real estate investments. REITs are designed like mutual funds, which are essentially pooled funds from many investors used to generate economies of scale and gain access to investment options that they would not normally be able to access individually. As implied by the name, non-traded REITS are not listed and not traded on public exchanges which makes them almost illiquid. This prevents an investor from selling the investment if they want the ability to do so in the future.
Who is Scott Roslonowski?
Scott Roslonowski of Indian Harbor Beach, Florida is the managing partner of Roslonowski, Boucher and Associates, which is a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial. Prior to working for Ameriprise Financial, Mr. Roslonowski was a registered with Morgan Stanely & Company. In March of 2023, a customer initiated an investment related complaint against Mr. Roslonowski where the customer sought damages supported by allegations that Roslonowski “recommended unsuitable investments, including a REIT, variable annuity and a life insurance policy, some of which led to unnecessary taxable event[s].” In July of 2023, another customer initiated an investment related complaint against Mr. Roslonowski where the customer sought damages of $200,000 supported by allegations that Roslonowski “recommended unsuitable investments including variable annuities, variable universal life insurance and REITs.” Both complaints are still pending.
Investigation of Scott Roslonowski
If you have suffered losses as a result of Scott Roslonowski, we would like to hear from you. We are currently investigating claims on behalf of a client who was sold complex and high commissioned variable annuities, universal life insurance products and non-traded REITs. We would like to hear from you if you have had a similar experience given that the information you have may assist us in the adjudication of claims against Scott Roslonowski. The Schwartz Law Firm represents investors in claims against financial advisors and their firms. If you have questions about your potential claim or need assistance from an investment fraud lawyer, please contact us at 866-618-0545 or email Matthew Schwartz directly at [email protected].
