Ameriprise Advisor Sued by Client's Estate Over Annuity Switch

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An Ameriprise Financial advisor faces a lawsuit alleging financial abuse over investment recommendations he made to an elderly client.

A representative of Edna Bubna's estate filed suit this week in state court in Oregon against advisor Jason Doneth, Ameriprise Financial and Doneth's previous firm, LPL Financial.

Bubna, who died in 2022, was 83 when Doneth met with her at her extended care facility and "encouraged her to transfer her assets into a financial vehicle that she did not understand so that he could invest her money," the lawsuit alleges.

"The amount of money invested into (an) annuity was $409,000. Additional funds in an undetermined amount were invested in securities," according to the complaint, which says Bubna previously had worked with a different advisor who sold his business to Doneth.

Bubna's estate "has suffered economic damages in the amount of at least $60,000 in fees on an annuity that was approximately $409,000 and the interest each year estimated to be approximately $24,000," the complaint says.

Her estate's representative seeks $100,000 in economic damages, tripled, and $250,000 in non-economic damages, among other costs. The lawsuit alleges financial abuse against a vulnerable person, fraud and conversion of assets without legal authority.

Doneth advised Bubna to give up her fixed 5% annuity and purchase a new annuity that paid 6% at an estimated $60,000 cost, the lawsuit alleges.

"Doneth convinced Edna Bubna to allow him to make the transfer by advising her that it was a good choice for her and that she would make her money back by postponing distributions to her from the annuity. She told her children that she felt pressured by Doneth to make the change," the complaint contends.

At a 1% increase in return "it would take 15 years to earn the cost of the annuity back. She would have to live to the age of 98 years old before she would regain the cost of the investment," it says. Bubna's obituary indicates she died at age 91.

After Bubna died, "Doneth directed and insisted that all three children open accounts through him with Ameriprise in order to receive the proceeds from their mother's estate. Amerprise requested full financial disclosure from each of the children. This resulted in the estate paying fees to liquidate the assets into three accounts instead of one," the suit alleges.

"Edna Bubna told her children that she did not know or understand what Doneth did with her money," it says.

The complaint doesn't mention LPL except for naming the company as a defendant.

Doneth, whom Forbes has named a top millennial advisor, has been registered as a broker and investment advisor with Ameriprise since 2015, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's BrokerCheck. He was registered as a broker with LPL from 2004 to 2015 as an an advisor with LPL from 2004 to 2018, BrokerCheck indicates.

Doneth, the CEO of Three Pines Wealth Advisors, an Ameriprise practice, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. An LPL spokesperson said the company had no comment on the case.

An Ameriprise spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor by email Friday: "We have not yet been served with this lawsuit and therefore can't comment on the matter; however, we would take any claims of this nature very seriously."

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