Darrach Bourke: Bond Complaint Against Bourke Investment Advisor

Mill Valley financial advisor Darrach Bourke (CRD# 5255413) has received investor complaints alleging he breached his fiduciary duty, executed unauthorized trades, and engaged in other forms of conduct. Records maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority show that he is a broker and an investment advisor with Emerson Equity, doing business as Bourke Investment Management.

Mr. Bourke’s BrokerCheck report discloses multiple investor complaints. The most recent, filed in February 2023, alleges that as a representative of Emerson Equity, he breached his fiduciary duty, acted negligent, made misrepresentations of material facts, breached contract, and violated Regulation Best Interest in connection with corporate bond investment recommendations. The pending complaint alleges unspecified damages.

An earlier complaint, filed in 2017, alleged that he executed unauthorized trades and over-concentrated the account in energy securities while a representative of Stifel Nicolaus & Company. The complaint reached a settlement of $13,500.

A third investor complaint, filed in 2017, alleged unauthorized trading and unsuitable recommendations, including investments in GoPro and Medley Capital, while he was at Stifel Nicolaus & Company and Summit Brokerage Services. In 2018 the complaint reached a settlement of $32,500.

A fourth investor complaint, filed in 2014, alleged unauthorized trading of stock products. In 2015 the complaint reached a settlement of $50,000.

Mr. Bourke’s BrokerCheck report also discloses a FINRA sanction against him. Initiated in 2017, the  sanction alleged that he “exercised discretion without written authorization in the accounts of two customers.” FINRA’s findings state that he discussed the strategies with the customers in question, but made discretionary transactions without first speaking to them about the transactions he would make. He allegedly did not obtain prior authorization from the customers to exercise discretion in their accounts, nor his firm’s approval of the accounts for discretionary trading. In connection with these findings, he was issued a 20-day suspension and a fine of $5,000.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Darrach Bourke holds 15 years of securities industry experience. Based in Mill Valley, California, he has been a broker and an investment advisor with Emerson Equity since 2017, doing business as Bourke Investment Management. His past registrations include Summit Brokerage Services, Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Stone & Youngberg, and UBS Financial Services. His credentials include the passage of four securities industry qualifying exams: the General Securities Principal Examination, or Series 24; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, or Series 66. He is licensed in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas. (Information current as of March 26, 2023.)

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