Earl Slosberg built a thriving Largo investment firm selling annuities and other products to retirees, but the National Association of Securities Dealers said some of the sales pitches he used were misleading.
The regulatory organization has censured Slosberg, who is now retired, and fined him $25,000.
Slosberg ran newspaper advertisements and mailed sales literature claiming "you never pay any fees with us" and touting "no-load annuities."
The NASD said those tactics suggested investors who bought the variable annuities through Earl & Associates would pay no fees. In fact, annuities charge a variety of fees and the agents who sell them receive compensation.
The NASD also said Slosberg used slides in his seminars that overstated the returns on investments. One 1999 slide claimed a 12-month investment would earn 8 percent, but failed to disclose that the rate did not apply to the entire investment. The real return was 4.36 percent.
The NASD said the materials had been approved by the compliance department at the brokerage he represented at the time. Slosberg, 79, lives in Palm Harbor. He consented to the findings but declined to comment on the case.
The NASD also charged an Indian Rocks broker with using misleading sales materials to sell variable annuities while affiliated with Earl & Associates.
Joseph Peggs consented to the findings, including censure and a $10,000 fine. He said he sent the materials, which had been approved by the brokerage firm, to clients with whom he had already met.
He said the clients knew or should have known that product fees might apply. He is currently affiliated with Woodbury Financial Services in Seminole.
