I met Sasha Stone a couple weeks ago at a networking event where she claimed to have an MBA from Pepperdine, that she was a registered investment rep and that she worked as an investment advisor at Heller Capital. I was looking to switch advisers so i took her contact information.
I talked to her a couple times on the phone before she referred to me to the owner of Heller Capital - Greg Heller. I never called Mr. Heller because instead of feeling like a junior broker handing me off to a senior broker - it felt more like a telemarketer handing me off to a closer. While I'm sure Mr. Heller knows his stuff, Sasha didn't. She came off like an empty headed airhead who easily became flustered. She didn't know anything about how investments actually work. For example, she didn't know what a Cal GO was - and she calls herself an investment adviser?
So I did some homework and found that Ms. Stone isn't listed as a broker on the Finra.org broker search website - though she represented herself as such when she is not legally authorized to represent herself as a registered rep - per SEC guidelines. Furthermore, she shouldn't be selling investment products per SEC guidelines. She also shouldn't be employed by any ethical broker dealer and the people at Heller Capital should know better.
I assumed they had some sort of referral relationship - so i called the firm and as it turns out they do. And this relationship per SEC guidelines is illegal if she is being paid for this service. I don't know if she is being paid referral fees, but I don't see any other reason why she would be soliciting business for the firm.
I am choosing not to do business with either Ms. Stone or Mr. Heller as I'm leery of their relationship and if this is how they represent their firm at the beginning of our relatinship i can't imagine what they'd be willing to let slide down the road. I will also be reporting their behavior to the SEC via a more formal letter.
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