Metric Rep Brett Ellen Has 6-Figure Investment Complaints

Las Vegas stockbroker Bret Ellen (CRD# 1460478) allegedly recommended unsuitable investments that caused six-figure losses, per investor complaints reported to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Currently a representative of Metric Financial, Ellen has been the subject of more than a dozen pending, settled, denied, or closed customer complaints. 

The two pending complaints disclosed on Bret Ellen’s BrokerCheck report were filed in the last two years. A complaint filed in 2021 alleges that as a representative of DFPG Investment LLC, he committed breach of fiduciary duty, recommended unsuitable investments in direct participation programs and/or limited partnership interests, made material misrepresentations and omissions, failed to supervise, and breached contract “related to an alternative investment.” The pending complaint alleges damages of $500,000.

A complaint filed in 2020, meanwhile, alleges that while a representative of United Planners’ Financial Services of America, Bret Ellen sold an unsuitable, high-risk investment in private placements. The pending complaint alleges damages of $132,396.

The three settled complaints listed on Bret Ellen’s BrokerCheck report were filed between 1999 and 2009, regarding his conduct as a representative of Securities America, National Planning Corporation, and Royal Alliance Associations. They list allegations including misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, misrepresentation, securities law violations, conversion, and unlawful business practices. They settled for a total of more than $310,000.

The six denied complaints listed on Bret Ellen’s BrokerCheck report, filed between 2001 and 2014, include allegations of unsuitable recommendations, unaccounted-for assets, misrepresentation, and an unauthorized transaction. They alleged total damages of more than $100,000, and they were denied by the firms that received them. 

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Brett Ellen holds 35 years of securities industry experience. He is registered with Metric Financial’s office in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he has been a broker since April 2021. His registration history includes Arque Capital (Las Vegas, Nevada and Scottsdale, Arizona), International Assets Advisory (Calabasas, California), DFPG Investments (Calabasas, California), United Planners’ Financial Services of America (Calabasas, California), American Financial Network Advisory Services (Los Angeles, California), Securities America (Calabasas, California), National Planning Corporation (Los Angeles, California), Royal Alliance Associates (Jersey City, New Jersey), NWNL Management Corporation (Des Moines, Iowa), Integrated Resources Equity Corporation, Christopher Weil & Company, and MidAmerica Management Corporation. He has passed the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, the General Securities Representative Examination, the Direct Participation Programs Representative Examination, the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, and the General Securities Principal Examination. He is licensed as a broker in Arizona, California, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Utah. (Information current as of November 14, 2021.)