It's not just about products; it's process that counts. Prudence begins before the first dollar gets invested; awareness and understanding is essential; due diligence, care and monitoring does not end simply because one signed an account agreement. ALL fiduciaries serve voluntarily, ignorance of fiduciary duty is no excuse. Suitability and Supervision thereof can be both an initial and ongoing duty.
25 years experience; Accredited Investment Fiduciary Auditor; any investment, account, asset, insurance, annuity, intellectual property, real estate, LLC, LLP family or closely held business may be or become subject to a fiduciary standard of care. Securities matters involving: Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Suitability, Supervision, Failure to Diversify, Fraud, Negligence, Misrepresentation, Rule 405; Trusts; UPIA; ERISA Pension, Profit Sharing, 401k, 403b plans, Union members and Public Employees Pension plans; Non Profits, Foundations, Endowments, UPMIFA; Hedge Funds; Securities and Commodities accounts & IRAs; Custodial, Minors, UTMA, UGMA, Coogan, Guardianships & Conservatorships.
Additional Areas of Expertise
Compensation, Valuation, Employment - Financial Services, Securities industry.
Prudent Investment Expert witness, Liability and Damages analysis, nature of fiduciary duty, responsibility; accredited sophisticated investors, failures, omissions, negligence, supervision, concentrated positions, hedging, misconduct, fraud, fiduciary liability, investment policy, portfolio modeling, risk analysis (initial and ongoing) correlation, monitoring, taxes, fees, costs, expenses, soft dollars, directed brokerage, payment for order flow, best execution, stock loan profits, cash flows, modern portfolio theory, asset allocation models, UPIA, UPMIFA, UMPERS, Prudent investor act.
ANALYSIS
Annual reports, 10ks, Registration statements, Prospectus, SEC Form ADV Part II and substitute brochure, PPMs - subscription risk disclosure, custody, prime brokerage, margin borrowing agreements, tier 3 difficult to value fas 157 complex securities valuation methodologies.
* Wrote, supervised Compensation plans for Stock brokers and branch and regional managers
* Wrote, supervised Accounting manuals (covering all securities, stocks, bonds, futures, options, mutual funds, annuities, long term care, life insurance and investment consulting service and all types of accounts - IRA, Sweep, Retirement plan);
* Designed, supervised special Margin account program
* Supervised employment, forgiveable loans, Recruiting deals for experienced financial advisers and new trainees.
* Designed, supervised Franchise Protection plan and Sunset plan for retired financial advisers; customer accounts distribution.
2003 - FiduciaryFORENSICS(tm), a proprietary measure of strengths & weaknesses of fiduciary liability, damages analysis for Individual and Class Action matters representing plaintiffs or respondents in:
* Family Law, Divorce, QDRO's
* Trust, Estate, Probate
* Securities arbitration - FINRA, SEC Investigations
* Non-profits, Foundations, Endowments
* ERISA Defined Benefit Pension, 401k, Profit Sharing Plans
* Employment benefits, Compensation & Valuation Expert
* State and Federal Agency, Regulatory Investigations
* Securities Industry Studies and Analysis of:
- Broker, branch office manager and regional manager compensation plans;
- Branch Office Profit / Loss Statements, Regional P/Ls, Firm wide P/L, Investment Product P/L
- Expert Damages Analysis of fees, costs and expenses of Investment products: Hedge funds, life insurance, annuities, Wrap accounts, Asset based fee accounts, Mutual funds, Variable Annuities, managed futures funds, closed end funds, mutual fund breakpoints, exchange funds, trust accounts, IRA accounts, Profit Sharing, Keogh accounts, SEP accounts, Defined Benefit Pension Accounts, Joint accounts. NOTE: Terms, names and titles of investments, accounts, services and people in the financial services industry may be confusing; we can usually clarify in short order.
**Subject to availability, brief initial consultations are complimentary**
Background
Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:A: ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY ANALYST, Center for Fiduciary Studies(2003)
MBA, Pepperdine University (1990)
BA, Economics / Accounting, Rutgers University (1983)
CPA Exam - Passed, State of New York Board of Accountancy (1986)
Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
A: Mr. McConnell has delivered lectures qualifying for continuing professional and legal education to attorneys, CPAs and schools since 2003.
Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
A: No
Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
A: Mr. McConnell has been retained nearly 100 times as either a testifying and or consulting expert.
Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
A: ERISA Pension,Profit Sharing,401k plans, IRAs
Family Law, Divorce, QDROs, Community property, Compensation, Valuation
Trust & Estate, Probate
FINRA Securities Arbitration - 401k IRA Rollovers, Trusts, Charities
Bankruptcy, Federal Agency, Investment adviser
Employment, Compensation - Financial Services / Securities industry
Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the plaintiff?
A: 70%
Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?
A: 30%
Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?
A: 6
Q: When was the last time you had your deposition taken?
A: 2009
Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?
A: 4
Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?
A: 10 (an overwhelming majority of cases settle.)
Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
A: since 2004
Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
A: At any time, any account, investment or asset may become subject to an investment fiduciary duty * IN ADDITION TO* suitability and compliance supervision. Charities, women, seniors, disabled and minors are more vulnerable to investment scams and misrepresentations.
Fiduciary performance audits -
Begin with who is a fiduciary,
Outline fiduciary duties,
Compare behavior to fiduciary standard of care;
Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts,
ERISA - Defined benefit pension plans, profit sharing plans, 401k plans, 403b plans, church plans, 457 plans;
Public Employees Pen, Union, Multi employer Taft Hartley plans, QDROs, trust company, life insurance, bank and securities brokerage investment accounts, Charities, tax exempt entities, not for profit, foundations, endowments.
IRA (defined as trusts under IRS Code Sec. 408) (Traditional, Roth IRA), IRA Rollovers and minor's custodial accounts like UTMAs or UGMAs. Tenants Association, Condominium and Cooperatives, HOA, Homeowners Association capital reserve and maintenance funds.
Divorce Fiduciary Audit(tm), QDRAb4QDRO(tm), FiduciaryFORENSICS(tm), Litigation, arbitration & mediation Consulting, Nationwide Support, Statement of claim, Suitability analysis, Post Settlement Fiduciary Audits, Supervision, Financial Services, Securities industry employment disputes, Stock Broker, Investment adviser and branch manager compensation, Discovery support.
Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?
A: ** Brief initial consultations are available as time permits **
A calendar and conflict check is required.
Thereafter a working budget is provided to you before any billable work begins, upon your approval and payment services may be scheduled.
Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?
A: ** Subject to a calendar and conflict check.
A working budget is provided to you before any billable work begins, upon your approval and payment; services may be scheduled.
Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?
A: Rates, fees and/or availability are provided upon completion of a calendar and conflict check.
Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?
A: Rates, fees and/or availability are provided upon completion of a calendar and conflict check.
Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)
A: An estimated working budget is provided to you before any billable work begins, upon your review, approval, return of signed engagement agreement,designation moving papers and payment; services may be scheduled.
