Class-Action Suit Filed Against PrimeVest Over Fund Breakpoints

The law firm of Berman DeValerio has filed a class-action lawsuit against broker/dealer PrimeVest Financial Services and two of its subsidiaries for allegedly overcharging investors nearly $5,000 in sales charges on Class A mutual funds by failing to apply sales breakpoint discounts.

The suit, filed in the Stearns County District Court in the State of Minnesota, says that between 2002 and 2010, of the $17,187.14 in front-end loads the plaintiffs paid, $4,980.37 was an overcharge.

“We believe that many customers of PrimeVest and other broker/dealers were overcharged in the same way as our clients, when they made multiple purchases of mutual fund shares, and did not get the benefit of the breakpoint discount,” said Peter A. Pease, a partner with Berman DeValerio.

“Customers who are making purchases for family members and themselves as part of their estate planning, college funding or distribution of business assets are the most likely to be denied breakpoint discounts because their broker/dealer failed to apply the available and proper rights of accumulation,” he said.