Brian Gardiner: $210K Complaint Against Ex-Cabot Lodge Advisor

A recent investor complaint against Westminster, Maryland financial advisor Brian Gardiner (CRD# 3268932) alleges that his conduct resulted in six-figure damages. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he is registered as a broker with Vanderbilt Securities and an investment advisor with Vanderbilt Advisory Services.

Mr. Gardiner’s BrokerCheck report discloses one investor complaint. Filed in March 2025, it alleges that as a representative of Cabot Lodge Securities, he committed common law fraud, breached his fiduciary duty, acted negligently, and failed in his supervisory capacities in connection with private placement offerings for First Capital, Hospitality Investors Trust, and Cole Capital. The pending complaint alleges damages of $210,000.

A second disclosure on his BrokerCheck report concerns his resignation from AXA Advisors. Filed in 2011, it states that he resigned “while under investigation for selling equity index annuities through an undisclosed outside appointment with another carrier,” contrary to firm policy.

The website for Gardiner Private Wealth Management, which offers securities and advisory services through Vanderbilt, includes a page describing the firm’s mission to help its clients meet and exceed their financial objectives. “We are fully committed to you, our valued clients,” it explains. “Since we are a 100% independent financial planning firm, you can be assured that our advice is objective and based on what is best for YOU! We are free from any outside pressure to push products or make sales quotas.”

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Brian Gardiner holds 24 years of securities industry experience. Based in Westminster, Maryland, he has been registered as a broker with Vanderbilt Securities and an investment advisor with Vanderbilt Advisory Services since 2023. His registration history includes Coastal Equities, Cabot Lodge Securities, Allied Beacon Partners, AXA Advisors, Lincoln Financial Advisors, the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, InterSecurities, SunTrust Securities, and Dean Witter Reynolds. His credentials include the passage of five securities industry qualifying exams: the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the General Securities Principal Examination, or Series 24; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Futures Managed Funds Examination, or Series 31; and the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, or Series 66. He is licensed in Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and West Virginia. (Information current as of April 13, 2025.)

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