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Bambi Holzer is a Southern California broker with a knack for self promotion; she’s appeared on The Today Show and has authored several books about investing.
In our celebrity-driven culture, media savvy is often perceived as a proxy for competenence. The unstated premise is that if you know how to look good on TV, you must know what your talking about.
That is why the April 13, 2009 article in Forbes about Ms. Holzer is so refreshing. It strips away the veneer of celbrity and reveals facts about Ms. Holzer’s disciplinary history:
It details complaints from 54 customers that have resulted in Holzer and her employers shelling out a combined $11.6 million in settlements since 1990. During that time Holzer was fired from one firm, resigned from two others amid considerable acrimony, was personally fined $100,000 for professional misconduct and was suspended for 21 days by industry regulators. Yet this plague of troubles has been little more than a speed bump to Bambi, as she likes to be known in the business.
The trouble with Finra and the entire disciplinary process for brokers is that it little more than a speed bump--even for those who have been found culpable. For most people 21 days away from work is a long vacation. But in the financial world that’s a suspension for serious misconduct. Is it any wonder that brokers abuse their clients’ trust?
The Forbes article about Ms. Holzer (I can’t bring myself to call her Bambi) is entitled, “Beware of Your Broker." That’s good advice--even if your broker isn’t appearing regulalrly on TV.
