Nick Taggart: Suitability Complaint Against Ex-Cetera Advisor

Multiple investor complaints against Canby, Oregon financial advisor Nick Taggart (CRD# 4353676) allege the recommendation of unsuitable investments. Records maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority indicate that he is a broker with IMST Distributors and an investment advisor with Alpine Capital Research.

Mr. Taggart’s BrokerCheck report discloses multiple investor complaints. The most recent, filed in February 2023, alleges that he made unsuitable investment recommendations and over-concentrated the account. The pending complaint, which relates to an investment in a real estate product, alleges unspecified damages.

An earlier investor complaint, filed in June 2021, similarly alleged that he recommended unsuitable investments while at Cetera Advisors. In March 2022 the complaint reached a settlement of $4,000. In a “Broker Statement” included with the complaint’s disclosure, he pushed back against the allegations. “At the time the recommendations were made, each investment sponsor named in the claim had a demonstrable track record of profitable investing on behalf of shareholders,” he wrote, adding that “the broker named in the claim” invested in some of the investments himself. “Simply stated, these investment recommendations were well-founded based on available information, wholly suitable to the customer’s stated investment objectives, and clearly made in good faith,” he concluded.

A third investor complaint, filed in 2021, alleged that he recommended an investment in a “high risk and high commissioned REIT.” The complaint reached a settlement of $7,500.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Nick Taggart holds 19 years of securities industry experience. Based in Canby, Oregon and St. Louis, Missouri, he has been registered as a broker with IMST Distributors and an investment advisor with Alpine Capital Research since 2017. His past registrations include Cetera Advisors (Portland, Oregon; 2012-2017), Pacific West Securities (Tigard, Oregon; 2005-2012), Edward Jones (St. Louis, Missouri; 2003-2005), and WMA Securities (Duluth, Georgia; 2001). His credentials include the passage of six securities industry qualifying exams: the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, or Series 6; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, or Series 6TO; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; and the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, or Series 66. He currently holds 41 state licenses. (Information current as of April 1, 2023.)

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