Anthony Martinelli & Joe Hirthler: LPL Advisors Face $3mm Complaint

Pennsylvania financial advisors Anthony Martinelli (CRD# 2590758) and Joe Hirthler (CRD# 1370229) recently received an investor complaint alleging that their conduct resulted in seven-figure damages. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that each is registered as a broker with LPL Financial and an investment advisor with Jacobi Capital Management.

An identical disclosure on Mr. Martinelli’s and Joe Hirthler’s BrokerCheck reports discloses the investor complaint against them. Filed in July 2024, it alleges that as representatives of LPL Financial, they failed to follow a customer’s instructions in connection with option trades. It also alleges that the customer’s managed portfolio suffered poor performance. The pending complaint alleges damages of $3 million.

In a statement included with the disclosure, Mr. Martinelli defends himself against the allegations, which he describes as meritless and filed by an “ultra-wealthy, highly sophisticated” client with experience managing investments. “Before we met, the client was already engaged in options trading and he hired my partner and I with the understanding that he would continue this self-directed strategy while also maintaining a well-diversified portfolio of investments that we managed for him,” he writes. “At all times, I followed the client’s instructions with respect to each transaction, and regularly provided the client with detailed statements, account information and tax records, including records of the profits and losses with respect to his client-directed trades.”

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Anthony Martinelli holds 29 years of securities industry experience. Based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, he has been registered as a broker with LPL Financial and an investment advisor with Jacobi Capital Management since 2014. Mr. Hirthler, meanwhile, is based in Pittston, Pennsylvania, having been registered as a broker with LPL Financial since 2003 and and an investment advisor with Jacobi Capital Management since 2009. Mr. Martinelli holds 13 state licenses, while Mr. Hirthler holds 36. (Information current as of August 17, 2024.)

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