Michael M. Hurtgen of Greenwood Village Colorado is a stockbroker formerly registered with Raymond James Financial Services Inc. who has been fined $5,000.00 and suspended for two months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity founded on consenting to findings that he sold away from the firm. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2016049202201 (Mar. 12, 2018).
According to the AWC, on January 8, 2015, a request was submitted to Raymond James Financial Services by Hurtgen in regard to Hurtgen’s participation in an outside business activity, Plan My Affairs, LLC (formerly known as Plan Your Affairs, LLC). Apparently, an online application was utilized by Plan My Affairs to aid individuals with succession planning and personal organization. Apparently, after Hurtgen stated that he had no plans to accumulate capital within the outside business activity, his application was approved by the firm in April of 2015.
The AWC stated that from October of 2015 to January of 2016, Hurtgen sought capital contributions for Michael M. Hurtgen from fourteen investors which included ten customers of Raymond James, where Hurtgen intended for Plan My Affairs membership interests to be sold to the investors via a private placement offering. FINRA noted that Hurtgen’s activities regarding private placements was not permitted by the firm.
The AWC also revealed that Hurtgen effected three securities transactions away from the firm, where he accumulated capital from individuals NC&CC, R&LP and EM. Evidently, those individuals were introduced to the prospective Plan My Affairs investment by way of Hurtgen furnishing marketing materials; engaging in phone calls, meetings and presentations with customers to educate them on the investment; providing customers with the business plan that Plan My Affairs intended to utilize; furnishing a Plan My Affairs operating agreement, investor questionnaire, risk disclosures and subscription agreements; and processing the individuals’ signed offering documents and contributions. The AWC stated that investors contributed a total of $75,000.00 in Plan My Affairs to obtain preferred membership interests. FINRA found that Hurtgen’s conduct in that regard was violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 3280.
Further, the AWC stated that from October of 2015 to January of 2016, the slide presentation and business plan provided by Hurtgen to fourteen investors left those investors without an adequate basis to determine whether to invest. Particularly, the business plan for Plan My Affairs failed to provide sufficient disclosures about the risks to investors and omitted information relating to the companies who Plan My Affairs claimed to have received venture capital funding totaling six million dollars. Moreover, the slide presentation was reportedly unbalanced and did not contain a reasonable foundation for subscription forecasts. In addition, the AWC revealed that the business plan and slide presentation were comprised of representations that had been misleading in reference to risks and returns. Consequently, FINRA found that Hurtgen’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rule 2010 and 2210(d)(1)(A).
On February 23, 2016, Hurtgen was fired from Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. based upon allegations that he sold away from the firm and engaged in outside business activities that the firm never authorized. Since November 1, 2017, Hurtgen has been associated with Cetera Advisor Networks LLC.
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